steven36 Posted January 24, 2020 Share Posted January 24, 2020 'Its life doesn't have to end!' More than 10 years on from its campaign to persuade users to dump Windows 7 for a non-proprietary alternative, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) has kicked off a petition to urge Microsoft to open-source the recently snuffed software. On the face of it, the logic seems pretty simple. On 14 January Windows 7 reached its end of life as Microsoft turned off the free security update taps with a final fix (which seemed to bork desktop wallpapers for some users). "Its life doesn't have to end," cried the foundation. "We call on Microsoft to upcycle it instead." Unfortunately, the FSF couldn't resist a final dig, saying the killing of the OS had brought to an end "its updates as well as its 10 years of poisoning education, invading privacy, and threatening user security." Hey team, way to go on persuading the Redmond gang to do you a solid. Suggesting such a release would go some way to "undo past wrongs" may not be a persuasive argument for the Seattle suits, who probably saw Windows 7 as way of undoing the heinous deeds of Vista. There is a precedent. Ancient MS-DOS and Word code has been opened up, and the Calculator app found in the current Windows 10 now lurks on GitHub. But an entire, relatively recent OS? We can see some problems, not least the licensed components lurking in Windows 7 that would need to be either excised or open-sourced as well. Then there are the bits and pieces that the company would consider valuable secrets (large chunks of Windows 7 linger on in Windows 10 after all.) And then there is the fact that Windows 7 is not actually unsupported. Three more years of updates are available for those who can pay. And with Windows (as well those parts of it licensed to third parties) still accounting for a sizeable chunk of Microsoft's revenues, we can imagine a very functional and highly compatible free version is not really in the company's best fiscal interests. And let's be honest, who knows what might be lurking in that code. "Take that, Penguin fsckers!" anyone? It was a different time. The Register contacted Microsoft on the off-chance that Windows 7 might be showing up on GitHub at some point soon, but we were told that the company doesn't comment on rumours and speculation. The Win 7 request from FSF is neither rumour nor speculation. In any event, if open source is your thing, there are plenty of Linux distributions in a far better state of usefulness than what was around when Windows 7 first launched. And if there is that Windows app you just can't do without, the popular compatibility layer Wine received a bump to version 5 this week, replete with over 7,400 tweaks to allow you to inflict more Windows apps on your Penguin-tinged OS. Still, never say never. If you told us 10 years ago that Microsoft would be about to ship a version of Windows containing the Linux kernel we might have sprayed precious beer from our nostrils. So who knows what else might be coming down the line? Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duddy Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 WTF?! The Free Software Foundation (FSF), the same group behind the 2009-era Windows 7 "sins" campaign that encouraged users to throw Windows 7 in the trash, has now started another initiative -- one that demands Windows 7 be opened up as free software. The FSF has launched the "Upcycle Windows 7" petition, and if the opening paragraph doesn't persuade Microsoft to open source Windows 7, then I don't know what will. "On January 14th, 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," the petition reads. Yikes. At any rate, most users probably agree that Windows 7 already undid Microsoft's past wrongs, being absolved for the sins of Windows Vista. Hey, maybe the FSF should ask for Windows Vista instead. You know, shoot for the moon and land in the stars kind of thing. Something's better than nothing. Moving on, the FSF has demanded that Microsoft release Windows 7 as free software for the community to "study and improve." The petition goes on to cite a precedent for this in the form of Microsoft's Calculator app being on GitHub, and claims Microsoft has "nothing to lose" by releasing an operating system that has reached end of life. Except, Microsoft kind of does have something to lose. While Windows 7 is in EOL status, and that means no more free updates and patches for consumers, it isn't technically unsupported. There's still hundreds of millions of Windows 7 machines, no shortage of which are business or enterprise customers that will be paying for extended support. Microsoft offers the privilege of paid extended support for Windows 7 through January 10, 2023. For instance, the German government will be paying Microsoft $886,000 for one year's worth of extended support for 33,000 Windows 7 machines. Joining Germany is Ireland, as Ireland's Health Service Executive has agreed to pay Microsoft roughly €1.1M ($1.2M) in extended support fees for 2020, and will be paying for extended support though at least 2021, for no less than 46,000 Windows 7 PCs. Those are just two recent examples. Then there's the not insignificant fact that much of the codebase in Windows 7 lives on in Windows 10. In other words, the chance of seeing Windows 7 in a GitHub repo anytime soon is unlikely, to say the least. Credit: Eric Hamilton source: https://www.techspot.com/news/83721-free-software-foundation-demands-windows-7-released-free.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duddy Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 Thanks @rasbridge for your valued "Thanks". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mp68terr Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 Free release and optimized win7 will likely mean the death of win10. Don't think that msoft will agree with that even if plenty enough people sign the petition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karlston Posted January 27, 2020 Share Posted January 27, 2020 Similar topic merged from General News. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duddy Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 15 hours ago, mp68terr said: Free release and optimized win7 will likely mean the death of win10. Don't think that msoft will agree with that even if plenty enough people sign the petition. Yeah, most likely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karlston Posted January 28, 2020 Share Posted January 28, 2020 22 hours ago, mp68terr said: Free release and optimized win7 will likely mean the death of win10. Would be nice, except Microsoft have "convinced" Intel/AMD and most other hardware manufacturers to only make drivers for 10. Without drivers for motherboard chipsets and peripherals, versions before 10 are doomed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mp68terr Posted January 29, 2020 Share Posted January 29, 2020 15 hours ago, Karlston said: Without drivers for motherboard chipsets and peripherals, versions before 10 are doomed. Indeed! But it's also a way to keep 'old' hardwares that are still working very fine under win7 to last even longer. [Not sure how to define 'old' though, for some it's old after a couple of months, for others it can be 'not old' after several years.] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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