NationStates

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 1:33 pm**

There is (strangely enough) a petition by the Free Software Foundation to "upcycle" Windows Seven and release it as an open source operating system.

https://www.fsf.org/windows/upcycle-windows-7
https://www.techradar.com/news/windows- ... on-demands
https://fossbytes.com/petition-filed-de ... en-source/

Basically, now that Windows Seven is no longer supported since early of last year, and that Microsoft is trying to kill off the operating system by no longer supporting it, the Free Software Foundation demands (yes, demands) that Microsoft release it as free software to make up for the various "sins" that Microsoft has supposedly done.

The Petition wrote:On January 14th [2020], Windows 7 reached its official "end-of-life," bringing an end to its updates as well as its ten years of poisoning education, invading privacy, and threatening user security. The end of Windows 7's lifecycle gives Microsoft the perfect opportunity to undo past wrongs, and to upcycle it instead.

We call on them to release it as free software, and give it to the community to study and improve. As there is already a precedent for releasing some core Windows utilities as free software, Microsoft has nothing to lose by liberating a version of their operating system that they themselves say has "reached its end."

To the executives at Microsoft:

We demand that Windows 7 be released as free software. Its life doesn't have to end. Give it to the community to study, modify, and share.
We urge you to respect the freedom and privacy of your users - not simply strongarm them into the newest Windows version.
We want more proof that you really respect users and user freedom, and aren't just using those concepts as marketing when convenient.

We need your help to send Microsoft a strong message. We want 7,777 supporters to take a stand with us for freedom - not just for ourselves, but for future generations of computer users.

While I do like the idea of an open source Windows Seven, it is kind of obvious that will never happen. Not only does a large amount of code most likely still live on in Windows 10, and so do some of the programs, but it would also become a competitor with Windows 10, which is the last thing that Microsoft would want. All in all, while a neat concept, is not something that is ever likely to happen.

What do you think NSG?

I know this petition started a year ago, but I found it interesting, and just read about it recently. I also would NOT sign a petition like this.

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 2:44 pm**

AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

They "demand" what?
And to what purpose? Surely not making computers run on an old OS, as one'd better run a Linux distro on old software. Basically they want to reverse engineer it and develop a mu-Windows. Which then would be a competitor to Windows.
And then there's the question about who's "they". This reeks like astroturfing like crazy.

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 2:50 pm**

Risottia wrote:AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

They "demand" what?
And to what purpose? Surely not making computers run on an old OS, as one'd better run a Linux distro on old software. Basically they want to reverse engineer it and develop a mu-Windows. Which then would be a competitor to Windows.
And then there's the question about who's "they". This reeks like astroturfing like crazy.

Actually, tons of people hate Windows 10 and think that Windows never should've upgraded past 7.

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 2:58 pm**

No need to use windows when there is OpenOffice and LibreOffice which are almost as good and free. I don't use windows.

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 3:15 pm**

Freiheit Reich wrote:No need to use windows when there is OpenOffice and LibreOffice which are almost as good and free. I don't use windows.

Windows is an operating system. LibreOffice is an Office Suite.

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 3:19 pm**

Risottia wrote:AHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

They "demand" what?
And to what purpose? Surely not making computers run on an old OS, as one'd better run a Linux distro on old software. Basically they want to reverse engineer it and develop a mu-Windows. Which then would be a competitor to Windows.
And then there's the question about who's "they". This reeks like astroturfing like crazy.

It's a crazy demand, and I have stated that it's a pipe dream, and that is what it is. Its cool to speculate what an open source Windows OS would look like, but I wouldn't sign a petition like this.

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 3:21 pm**

The Reformed American Republic wrote:
Freiheit Reich wrote:No need to use windows when there is OpenOffice and LibreOffice which are almost as good and free. I don't use windows.

Windows is an operating system. LibreOffice is an Office Suite.

I see my error. I guess I was thinking of Microsoft Office.

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 3:26 pm**

Not gonna happen.

In terms of OSes, Microsoft Windows has a very strong selling point of backwards compatibility. Windows 7, Windows 10, yes, even Vista, has a very strong feature in being able to run programs that were designed to run on older versions of Windows. It's why they skipped Windows 9, because many a program checked if it was running on "windows 9*" with the * being 5 or 8 (windows 95 or windows 98).

By releasing pretty much all relevant backwards compatibility code, they'd lose a key selling point of Windows.

They're not gonna do that.

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 3:28 pm**

Thats a bit absurd, of course Microsoft shouldn't release the source code for Windows 7 if they don't want to. It is their software legacy. Besides, there are plenty of versions of Linux which have been made that look and function just like Windows 7 did. If anything, Adobe should make Adobe Flash open source, because it'd be easier to preserve the internet history of the .swf era. Which was from 1995 to 2020.

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 3:31 pm**

The Blaatschapen wrote:Not gonna happen.

In terms of OSes, Microsoft Windows has a very strong selling point of backwards compatibility. Windows 7, Windows 10, yes, even Vista, has a very strong feature in being able to run programs that were designed to run on older versions of Windows. It's why they skipped Windows 9, because many a program checked if it was running on "windows 9*" with the * being 5 or 8 (windows 95 or windows 98).

By releasing pretty much all relevant backwards compatibility code, they'd lose a key selling point of Windows.

They're not gonna do that.

Even if backwards compatibility were removed, it would compete with Windows 10. That enough makes this a pipe dream. They also hated windows 7 when it came out ironically enough, making this demand even dumber.

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 3:32 pm**

Saiwania wrote:Thats a bit absurd, of course Microsoft shouldn't release the source code for Windows 7 if they don't want to. It is their software legacy. Besides, there are plenty of versions of Linux which have been made that look and function just like Windows 7 did. If anything, Adobe should make Adobe Flash open source, because it'd be easier to preserve the internet history of the .swf era. Which was from 1995 to 2020.

You might like Supernova. https://www.getsupernova.com/ It is a replacement for adobe flash that can play quite a bit of the content.

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 3:42 pm**

Saiwania wrote:Thats a bit absurd, of course Microsoft shouldn't release the source code for Windows 7 if they don't want to.

And Microsoft won't. The Free Software Foundation don't have the legal right or anything to "demand" such a release.

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 4:12 pm**

Doubt it'll ever happen, nor do I see that much added value.

I get the desire to look under the hood, but to me Windows is pretty much a "personal computer" OS that doesn't - in my opinion - require all that much modification. It's kind of the point. Windows is more or less predictable and user-friendly. Picking a UNIX distro that suits your needs isn't always easy, and getting a hang of the different peculiarities of each one isn't always a cakewalk either.

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 7:48 pm**

The Reformed American Republic wrote:There is (strangely enough) a petition by the Free Software Foundation to "upcycle" Windows Seven and release it as an open source operating system.

https://www.fsf.org/windows/upcycle-windows-7
https://www.techradar.com/news/windows- ... on-demands
https://fossbytes.com/petition-filed-de ... en-source/

Basically, now that Windows Seven is no longer supported since early of last year, and that Microsoft is trying to kill off the operating system by no longer supporting it, the Free Software Foundation demands (yes, demands) that Microsoft release it as free software to make up for the various "sins" that Microsoft has supposedly done.

The Petition wrote:On January 14th [2020], Windows 7 reached its official "end-of-life," bringing an end to its updates as well as its ten years of poisoning education, invading privacy, and threatening user security. The end of Windows 7's lifecycle gives Microsoft the perfect opportunity to undo past wrongs, and to upcycle it instead.

We call on them to release it as free software, and give it to the community to study and improve. As there is already a precedent for releasing some core Windows utilities as free software, Microsoft has nothing to lose by liberating a version of their operating system that they themselves say has "reached its end."

To the executives at Microsoft:

We demand that Windows 7 be released as free software. Its life doesn't have to end. Give it to the community to study, modify, and share.
We urge you to respect the freedom and privacy of your users - not simply strongarm them into the newest Windows version.
We want more proof that you really respect users and user freedom, and aren't just using those concepts as marketing when convenient.

We need your help to send Microsoft a strong message. We want 7,777 supporters to take a stand with us for freedom - not just for ourselves, but for future generations of computer users.

While I do like the idea of an open source Windows Seven, it is kind of obvious that will never happen. Not only does a large amount of code most likely still live on in Windows 10, and so do some of the programs, but it would also become a competitor with Windows 10, which is the last thing that Microsoft would want. All in all, while a neat concept, is not something that is ever likely to happen.

What do you think NSG?

I know this petition started a year ago, but I found it interesting, and just read about it recently. I also would NOT sign a petition like this.

Or you can just open source Windows 95. It would honestly be WAY easier, and less detrimental to Microsoft.
Then again, I still think that Trump is president, even if he isn't. I even believe that GEORGE W BUSH is still president.

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 8:01 pm**

Esternial wrote:Doubt it'll ever happen, nor do I see that much added value.

I get the desire to look under the hood, but to me Windows is pretty much a "personal computer" OS that doesn't - in my opinion - require all that much modification. It's kind of the point. Windows is more or less predictable and user-friendly. Picking a UNIX distro that suits your needs isn't always easy, and getting a hang of the different peculiarities of each one isn't always a cakewalk either.

Privacy enthusiasts who don't trust Windows 10 would probably find it worthwhile or diehards who won't upgrade for the life of them. With that said, most people upgraded. I have been using Win 10 for over 4 years.

Tornado Queendom wrote:Or you can just open source Windows 95. It would honestly be WAY easier, and less detrimental to Microsoft.
Then again, I still think that Trump is president, even if he isn't. I even believe that GEORGE W BUSH is still president.

I doubt even that will be open sourced.

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 8:35 pm**

Q. What's the worst Micro$oft product ever? A. The next one.

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 8:40 pm**

Postauthoritarian America wrote:Q. What's the worst Micro$oft product ever? A. The next one.

I take it you support open source OSes.

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 8:41 pm**

I strongly support this idea, and I would extend it to all editions of Windows.

In fact, I support the abolition of all so-called “intellectual property.”

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 9:06 pm**

The Reformed American Republic wrote:
Postauthoritarian America wrote:Q. What's the worst Micro$oft product ever? A. The next one.

I take it you support open source OSes.

https://www.libreoffice.org

Posted: **Wed Jan 20, 2021 11:52 pm**

Just use TempleOS, jeez.

Posted: **Thu Jan 21, 2021 12:57 am**

The Holy Therns wrote:Just use TempleOS, jeez.

Didn’t that die when the creator died?

Posted: **Thu Jan 21, 2021 2:51 am**

Freiheit Reich wrote:
The Reformed American Republic wrote:Windows is an operating system. LibreOffice is an Office Suite.

I see my error. I guess I was thinking of Microsoft Office.

The OP spells out very clearly in no uncertain terms that they are talking about an operating system, so not quite sure how you managed to make the mistake of thinking it was talking about an office software suite...

Posted: **Thu Jan 21, 2021 2:56 am**

Postauthoritarian America wrote:Q. What's the worst Micro$oft product ever? A. ~~The next one~~. Windows 10

Fixed.

I think in a few years we will get a proliferation of operating systems appearing out India and China. The competition might get Microsoft to up their game.

Posted: **Thu Jan 21, 2021 3:01 am**

An Alan Smithee Nation wrote:
Postauthoritarian America wrote:Q. What's the worst Micro$oft product ever? A. ~~The next one~~. Windows 10

Fixed.

I think in a few years we will get a proliferation of operating systems appearing out India and China. The competition might get Microsoft to up their game.

Why do you feel Windows 10 sucks so much?

Posted: **Thu Jan 21, 2021 3:09 am**

Esternial wrote:
An Alan Smithee Nation wrote:
Fixed.

I think in a few years we will get a proliferation of operating systems appearing out India and China. The competition might get Microsoft to up their game.

Why do you feel Windows 10 sucks so much?

Because I have so many problems with it. Because it is bloated with things that I don't want that fill up my hard drive, using up my bandwidth constantly updating themselves, yet can't remove. Because its components are badly compartmentalised.

Microsoft put my hackles up right from the start with the way they introduced Windows 10 by it downloading itself without my permission. Then We've put Candy Crush on your machine without permission. The endless fucking nagging shit to sign up for an account. Piss off Microsoft it's my laptop I choose what software goes on it not you. Edge is shit. The email app is shit.

NationStates

Free Software Foundation Demands Windows 7 "Upcycle."

Free Software Foundation Demands Windows 7 "Upcycle."

Free Software Foundation Demands Windows 7 “Upcycle”