[Coco] ReactOS...

[Mike Pepe]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: coco-bounces at maltedmedia.com [mailto:coco-
> bounces at maltedmedia.com] On Behalf Of Michael Robinson
> Sent: Sunday, December 14, 2008 6:55 PM
> To: coco at maltedmedia.com
> Subject: [Coco] ReactOS...
> 
> For those who hate Linux or those who need to run Windows
> software that don't want to pay $400+ for a software license,
> check out ReactOS.  Please don't pirate Windows, that is hard
> on competitors.  ReactOS needs people who can do C system
> programming.  ReactOS is licensed under the GNU GPL.
> See http://www.reactos.org if you are interested.
> I assume that at least some of you, if not most, are using
> Microsoft Windows right now and I know this because Microsoft
> has a monopoly.
> 
> This monopoly makes me wonder, what if a successor to the coco
> that takes the coco far enough forward to compete with the PC
> came out?  Imagine a COCO clone that is downward compatible
> running either ReactOS or Linux as optional OSes with a
> more Extended basic as the default language.
> 
> Be aware that ReactOS isn't out of alpha state yet and it
> lacks even stable file system support.
> 

Well, I hate to sound like one of those guys who shits all over
someone's ideas, but I'd like to share my opinion on this if I may. And
I'm going to go right past the Linux and Windows stuff because, hey, I'm
just biased that way.

Certainly count me in as someone who would LOVE to see a "what-if" the
CoCo architecture had been extended into modern times like the PC ended
up. These are great thought experiments and certainly interesting forays
into the theories and fundamentals of computer science and computer
engineering.

If I may make an analogy though, I kind of see what you are proposing as
something like this:

"as a kid I loved my Radio Flyer wagon, and I was thinking- if Radio
Flyer had just expanded their product line a bit by stretching the wagon
somewhat, adding a hundred seats, enclosing the top, throwing on some
jet engines and wings, we could have had something that competes with
airplanes!"

The end result there being, of course, an airplane- which is something
we already have- and redoing it presumably at far greater expense than
just buying the plane outright.

So putting on my engineering hat, I don't really see that anyone would
be willing to bankroll the huge cost of developing the hardware and
software for a platform that would presumably be able to do what we're
already able to do with our PCs and Macs. 

Unless you're proposing some huge shift in the way people use a computer
with this project, I don't think even the most rabid CoCo fans here
would think it makes sense.

If a project like this were to get anywhere, I would expect it to be
something that is a VM that runs on a PC. Certainly something fun and
interesting from a computer science and CoCo perspective without a
doubt- and not worthless; I'm sure those involved would gather a great
deal of knowledge and experience. I just don't think the masses would be
very interested.

-Mike