[ros-dev] Google Integration was: My attitude

[Royce Mitchell III]

David Hinz wrote:

> Well, I didn't say our goal should be hurting or destroying Microsoft, 
> but as far as I know our goal is to create a working Windows NT 
> replacement. And that means, that we actually want to replace Windows.
> And this is the point, where Google enters the stage, they want MS to 
> earn as less money as possible, so that MS isn't too dangerous for 
> Google. And how could you hinder Microsoft from earning money? Right, 
> you 'just' have to steal them their platform they need for their 
> business, Windows and Office (Microsoft knows, why they are producing 
> the Xbox, it's a completely different business, so if the Windows and 
> Office business goes down, they make their money with the Xbox). And 
> what would be the best thing to pull people away from Windows and 
> Office? Right again, it's something that is compatible and similiar, 
> at the moment this would be OpenOffice and ReactOS. And as I mentioned 
> in a previous mail, they are actually working together with Sun, in 
> order to support OpenOffice.
>
> I think, it would be hard to convince Google, but I see a chance for a 
> very close relationship with Google, as both sides would profit of it 
> a lot.

What you're saying doesn't make sense.

They're selling the new X-Box under cost to get a foothold in the 
market. Office 12 is, from what I hear, going to be a major innovative 
and I'm guessing they're going to get a lot of sales from it - every 
sale is pure profit ( minus their R&D ), whereas the X-Boxes aren't even 
selling for *hardware cost*. They're *hoping* to make up the loss 
through game sales, but game development is a tricky business.

I don't think any of us envision ReactOS replacing Windows. If anything, 
ReactOS will make Windows stronger:

1) ReactOS is already being used by driver writers to better understand 
the system they are ultimately programming for.

2) ReactOS is already being used by some universities in classes about 
the Windows architecture.

3) ReactOS will prevent some from migrating to Linux - this means more 
people staying within the Windows "system".

4) ReactOS will likely attract many who currently use Windows without 
paying for it - i.e. it will likely *reduce* piracy, allowing MS to 
concentrate more on it's paying customers.

I don't actually see Google being interested in ReactOS - why would they 
want to compete with Microsoft on MS's terms? ReactOS's success is based 
on the Win32 foundation, and will likely always be tied to it.

Anyways, whether or not Google is interested in ReactOS or not, their 
reasons for it ( or not ) are theirs alone. Anything else is 
speculation. Attributing malice towards MicroSoft by Google is 
unhealthy, and possibly libelous if not actually true. Let's talk about 
facts instead, like the fact that Google is willing to put money into 
Wine to get it's apps working on that platform. In essence, Google is 
already donating to us by doing this. Perhaps they'd be willing to help 
fund us directly. That's something we can talk to them about.

If we're going to speculate, speculate on how ReactOS can increase a 
potential investor's revenue. Anything else is worthless speculation, 
IMHO. This could even apply to MS. Anybody have any contacts at MS that 
might be willing to help ReactOS? As I said, I believe firmly that 
ReactOS can only benefit MS, and I hope they see it one day soon.

Finally, people are complaining this list is being abused. Ros-dev is 
about "development". This discussion needs to be moved to the forums, or 
maybe ros-general.