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[OPEN SOURCE] The (R)evolution is now here.


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The ReactOS ®evolution has begun!

During the last couple of months we have been compiling all your feedback and suggestions about ReactOS in order to come up with a new paradigm. Now the time has come to show you what we've been working on: ReactOS Community Edition.

ReactOS Community Edition is.. special, not just as a form of connecting further with our Community, it also opens doors to new ideas and strategies.

We hope that you like all the work that we've done as we got inspired by a lot of your ideas. The is the product of that inspiration.

Discover all the details of the ®evolution at the community site and join us at Indiegogo to show your support.

A ®evolution can only happen when we all push things, together. Please help by backing, spreading the word, providing feedback... Every bit counts.

Microsoft is not the only one //build/ing new things this year. We have something up our sleeves as well!

Official website: http://www.reactos.org/

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The word I meant to say was "democracy".

Democracy is a good thing, but it is based on TWO assumptions:

  1. everyone has the right to vote
  2. everyone voting knows enough on the whatever is subject to vote

In this case #1 does not apply as - as said - you have to pay for getting the privilege of voting and the more you pay the more "weight" your vote is.

But, unfortunately, also #2 does not apply, IF the audience is a casual enough sample of the internet, what will be added to ReactOS first will be Facebook, Twitter and Angry Birds. :ph34r:

On the other hand, IF the audience is a narrow enough target of "geeks", we will have new drivers for the Commodore Vic20 Tape recorder, a midi driver for Yamaha keyboards and for a I/O interface for stepper motors. :w00t:

jaclaz

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The word I meant to say was "democracy".

Democracy is a good thing, but it is based on TWO assumptions:

  1. everyone has the right to vote
  2. everyone voting knows enough on the whatever is subject to vote

In this case #1 does not apply as - as said - you have to pay for getting the privilege of voting and the more you pay the more "weight" your vote is.

But, unfortunately, also #2 does not apply, IF the audience is a casual enough sample of the internet, what will be added to ReactOS first will be Facebook, Twitter and Angry Birds. :ph34r:

On the other hand, IF the audience is a narrow enough target of "geeks", we will have new drivers for the Commodore Vic20 Tape recorder, a midi driver for Yamaha keyboards and for a I/O interface for stepper motors. :w00t:

jaclaz

I knew what you said, but not what the good people at React OS said. I based my assumption off of what you said for number 1.

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I knew what you said, but not what the good people at React OS said. I based my assumption off of what you said for number 1.

Part of that assumption is that anyone eligible to vote can cast a vote that has the same weight of anyone else's vote.

The moment someone (by paying money) can cast a vote that counts 5x that of anyone else, it is anyway not "democracy" (or "community") anymore.

And the whole concept of "popularity" is somehow derived from the worst deviations of it, like the "likes" on Facebook or the "views" on Youtube.

Also, if you think a bit abut it, the whole idea of "Open Source" and "Collaborative programming" is that people contributes with their time and knowledge to the development or the testing of the software.

We could make a poll :w00t: to see how many of our members on MSFN would be willing to pay a US$ 300 entry ticket for the privilege of being allowed to spend an enormous amount of their time in the Beta testing.

What makes IMHO a lot of sense (among the proposed offers) is the one about the "dedicated" embedded/POS system:

$100,000USD

Specific set of hardware

Do you have a specific set of hardware (specific computer model, a specific POS spec, a specific embedded x86 hardware system...etc) that you want to be powered by ReactOS? ReactOS Partnership Program is the answer!

But there are (still IMHO) two big show-stoppers:

  1. there is no actual record/proof/anything about the capabilities of existing ReactOS, let alone about it being in any way "secure"
  2. the US$ 100,000 are maybe a tadbit too much for a little new (let's call it start-up) company entering the field of POS/Embedded systems[1]

jaclaz

[1] Any already "established" company will use an already established industry standard, right or wrong as this approach might be

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Im not sure if you not understanding what I said or If Im not getting what your saying, but all I was saying that there so called "democracy" is not a democracy, but a Meritocracy for it is based off of merits, (this case money) and the greater the contribution the greater that vote becomes.

BUT the part that I understood was your open source statement to which I agree 110% with. "Open source" seems to be the new business tactic. It is more semi open-source, if it can even be called that.

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Im not sure if you not understanding what I said or If Im not getting what your saying, but all I was saying that there so called "democracy" is not a democracy, but a Meritocracy for it is based off of merits, (this case money) and the greater the contribution the greater that vote becomes.

BUT the part that I understood was your open source statement to which I agree 110% with. "Open source" seems to be the new business tactic. It is more semi open-source, if it can even be called that.

No, we will need to agree to disagree :).

Meritocracy is based on merit. <- it has a positive connotation, merit is intended as a positive attribute, it means that you have outstanding capabilities, knowledge, intelligence, will, etc., and that you used them for the benefit of the community which in turn gives you this status or recognition. Merit cannot be bought, you either manage to do the positive things that lead to gain it or you don't.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meritocracy

Meritocracy (merit, from Latin mereō: “earn” + -cracy, from Ancient Greek κράτος, kratos: “strength, power”) is a political philosophy that holds power should be vested in individuals according to merit.[1] Advancement in such a system is based on intellectual talent measured through examination and/or demonstrated achievement in the field where it is implemented.

Something based on money cannot be "merit", it is a corrupted form of democracy, and usually leads to what is called oligarchy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligarchy

or, even worse, to a plutocracy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plutocracy

The apparent "model" of the voting system as represented on the Indiegogo page is a mixed status, where something is "pushed" through either a high number of "free" (free in the sense of gratis) votes (and as such is a form of democracy with an accent on populism) or through buying these votes (which is clearly derived from plutocracy).

The "free" votes (again free in the sense of gratis) that people with merit may cast have not any greater weight than that of the common citizen, thus merit is not measured, nor evaluated.

In my perverted mind the priorities and planning (let alone the management) of any project should be done through a form of aristocracy (in the original sense):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristocracy

where one reaches the aristocrat status through merits (not by birth or wealth).

On the other hand, ReactOS has always been fully Open Source, and there is nothing in the fund raising campaign hinting that this status will change.

jaclaz

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