ReactOS : GNU’s not Windows either…

Although I have known the ReactOS project for quite a time, I have never really considered it greatly so far. Actually, I agree very much with Aaron Seigo on the fact that porting more and more great FLOSS to Windows serves Microsoft more than the FLOSS movement.

But then something hit me: when GNU was first created, the aim was to replace the UNIX system piece by piece, so as to end up with a fully open-source OS. I don’t think it would have really worked if RMS had begun by replacing things on the top of UNIX instead of beginning with the core: a C compiler and an editor.

This is why I have come to wonder if ReactOS might be a way to go after all, allowing people to run both FLOSS and proprietary software for Windows natively, on an open-source OS, replacing the core of Windows with an open-source one. I don’t think I would use it, because I’m very happy using only FLOSS on top of GNU/Linux, but it could be part of a transition towards open-source for many users, something of that taste:

• Step 1 : a user on Windows with proprietary software
• Step 2 : a user on Windows with his favourite proprietary software and a few FLOSS, like Firefox, OOo, etc.
• Step 3 : the user switches to ReactOS, keeps using his favourite proprietary software and gets access to more FLOSS
• Step 4 : the user switches to a GNU/${your_favourite_kernel_here} and uses FLOSS only

This would make the Windows-to-GNU transition much smoother, just as long as there are not too many great FLOSS on Windows that would keep them using it, as Aaron rightly pointed out.