[PLUG] Source code to Windows 9x and ME...

[alan at clueserver.org]

See if DOSBOX and Wine will support what you need to do. I have used
DOSBOX and it works pretty well. (I have run a few DOS based games on it.)
There are emulators on Linux that will support older hardware
configurations. (MESS, for example.) The problem you are going to have is
if anything you are using demands old hardware peripherals. The hardest
will be 5.25" floppy drives. (There are USB 3.5" drives, but almost
nothing that supports 5.25" except for an ugly hardware hack. I have yet
to find a pcie floppy controller. Post a link if you know one.)

Building Win 3.1 on a modern system would be hard. Much of that code is 16
bit. I have compilers that will do it, but I have a huge pile of old
software.

> Assuming the thermal conditions in the location of torment were
> considerably reduced, having the source code would not be enough.  A good
> proportion (all?) of the MS development infrastructure would also need to
> be replicated.  I doubt that the source could be run through modern
> compilers/linkers/etc... with the result being an operational OS.
>
> My opinion, based on what little I have determined from the thread so far,
> is your options include:
>
>    1. Buy as much 20 year old equipment as you can that makes your units
>    operate. If you're wedded to keeping the pick and place equipment this
> is
>    probably your best option.
>    2. Reverse engineer the functionality of the control and UI systems for
>    the unit.  This will take quite some time, and will leave you wondering
>    what functionality was missed.
>    3. Reverse engineer the functionality of the control uint, and create
>    your own UI system. This has the same drawbacks as #2.
>    4. Pray that MS releases the source code, and knowledge of how to build
>    Win98 (which has probably been lost). In addition Tyco would probably
> need
>    to make the UI source available to permit a modern rewrite. Not sure
> how
>    this helps over option #1.
>    5. Request the source for the UI and DOS units from the vendor, and
>    perform a rewrite targeting current HW.  If you're looking for source
> code
>    this is far more likely to succeed than relying on MS.  Potentially
> your
>    second best option, though the chance of success is also remote.
>    6. Scrap the pick and place unit and get a new system that isn't as
>    constrained in HW/SW support.  Saved this for last as the immediate out
> of
>    pocket is probably prohibitive.
>
> Anybody else have other suggestions?
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 26, 2019 at 6:57 AM Bill Barry <bill at billbarry.org> wrote:
>
>> On Thu, Sep 26, 2019 at 8:36 AM Michael C Robinson
>> <michael at robinson-west.com> wrote:
>> >
>> > Is it possible to get the source code to Windows 9x and ME since
>> > Microsoft isn't supporting it anymore?
>> > One would want to get the source code and then open source it of
>> > course.  Even Windows 3.1 and Windows 3.11 is closed source.  Surely,
>> > Microsoft could release pre 9x Windows?  It wouldn't hurt Microsoft at
>> > all since Windows
>> > is squarely NT based now where many modern systems won't even support
>> > DOS let alone DOS based Windows.  I realize it would probably be very
>> > expensive to get Microsoft to cough up the source code, but has anyone
>> > even looked into this?
>> >
>> Richard Stallman apparently broached this subject to a Microsoft vice
>> president when he visited there to give a talk.
>> https://stallman.org/articles/microsoft-talk.html
>> It might happen someday.
>>
>> Bill
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Q: Why do programmers confuse Halloween and Christmas?
A: Because OCT 31 == DEC 25.