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I prefer to use proprietary and closed-source software. But to each his own, I guess.
by brvs 13y ago
I prefer to use proprietary and closed-source software. But to each his own, I guess.
- devcpp 13y agoSo you don't care about backdoors, malware, who knows whatever else they may put in that code?
- brvs 13y agoI would care if they were present. But I have no positive evidence that my computer is infected by any of that. I don't need to manually scan through C code to feel safe. Just like I don't have to watch my food being prepared to be sure it isn't being poisoned.
- protomyth 13y agoAlthough not agreeing with the GP, OpenVMS is closed source and has a pretty good record on security. Closed doesn't necessarily mean less secure.
- guard-of-terra 13y agoDo you prefer to write it all from scratch? Because you can't materialize a new closed-source operating system in time for a console lifecycle without basing it upon some open source one. So you don't have much choice: it's Microsoft or open source, and guess what? Microsoft already have a console of its own.
- moron4hire 13y agoWindows is not closed source. It's proprietary software, but the source code (especially for embedded operating systems and custom hardware projects) is readily available.
- guard-of-terra 13y agoDoes it contradict with anything I've said?
- moron4hire 13y agoActually, for the specific purpose that you're speaking of, I think yes, it does contradict your statements. If you were building a game console, you could probably get nearly immediate access to the Windows source code. They have it such that you can compile Windows with the kernel modules of your choosing, specifically for use in embedded hardware scenarios. And it's actually configurable to run on ARM, not just x86. And I doubt they would actually prevent you from making your own competing console, because A) Windows is a separate division from Xbox, and B) Xbox is a lot more than just a console that runs Windows. Just because they make their own tablet computers doesn't mean they're preventing people from making tablet computers.
- guard-of-terra 13y agoGood luck with that if you learned nothing from the PlaysForSure fiasco.
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- matthewmacleod 13y agoWindows is, by any reasonable definition, closed-source. It is possible (in some cases) to gain access to parts of the source code if you're an OEM, partner or large customer - but this is true of almost any software project, and such code is by no means readily-available. If Windows doesn't count as closed-source software, then nothing does.