←back to thread

Ask HN: Abandoned/dead projects you think died before their time and why?

358 points ofalkaed | 3 comments | 11 Oct 25 22:16 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source

Just curious and who knows, maybe someone will adopt it or develop something new based on its ideas.
Show context
snovymgodym ◴[11 Oct 25 22:48 UTC] No.45553326[source]▶
ReactOS, the effort to create a free and open source Windows NT reimplementation.

It has been in existence in some form or another for nearly 30 years, but did not gain the traction it needed and as of writing it's still not in a usable state on real hardware. It's not abandoned, but progress on it is moving so slow that I doubt we'll ever see it be released in a state that's useful for real users.

It's too bad, because a drop in Windows replacement would be nice for all the people losing Windows 10 support right now.

On the other hand, I think people underestimate the difficulty involved in the project and compare it unfavorably to Linux, BSD, etc. Unix and its source code was pretty well publicly documented and understood for decades before those projects started, nothing like that ever really existed for Windows.

replies(5): >>45553394 #>>45553811 #>>45555671 #>>45555954 #>>45557594 #
1. pessimizer ◴[12 Oct 25 12:04 UTC] No.45557594[source]▶
> I think people underestimate the difficulty involved in the project

I don't think people do, it sounds like a nearly impossible struggle, and at the end you get a Windows clone. I can't imagine hating yourself enough to work on it for an extended period of time for no money and putting yourself and your hard work in legal risk. It's a miracle we have Wine and serious luck that we have Proton.

People losing Windows 10 support need to move on. There's Linux if you want to be free, and Apple if you still prefer to be guided. You might lose some of your video games. You can still move to Windows 11 if you think that people should serve their operating systems rather than vice versa.

replies(2): >>45561707 #>>45597526 #
2. restalis ◴[12 Oct 25 20:42 UTC] No.45561707[source]▶
"putting yourself and your hard work in legal risk"

Like what? I'm genuinely curious what personal risks faces anyone from contributing to ReactOS. I also am curious what kind of legal risk may threaten the work? I mean, even in the unlikely scenario that something gets proven illegal and ordered to be dismissed from the project, what would prevent any such particular expunged part to be re-implemented by some paid contractor (now under legally indisputable circumstances), thus rendering the initial effort (of legal action) moot?

3. phendrenad2 ◴[15 Oct 25 19:49 UTC] No.45597526[source]▶
Having dabbled in kernel development a bit, this is very true. It's an absolute nightmare.