Windows Research Kernel

kataklinger · Post by **kataklinger** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 2:50 pm

I got copy of WRK's source code few days ago.

I hadn't time to look at it closely, but it looks huge... ~800k lines of code

os64dev · Post by **os64dev** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 3:10 pm

be carefull not to use the knowledge in your os, because that would be illegal

Alboin · Post by **Alboin** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 3:15 pm

You may distribute snippets of this software in research papers, books or other teaching materials, or publish snippets of the software on websites or on-line community forums that are intended for teaching and research. The total amount of source code in each of your snippets should not exceed 50 lines.

Interesting. I would think that posting any code would be a breach of contract, but apparently not.

~800k lines of code

Only ~800k for the core? I was under the impression that it was a few million total. Does the UI really take up over a million lines?

be carefull not to use the knowledge in your os, because that would be illegal

You may use any information in intangible form that you remember after accessing the software.

?

Colonel Kernel · Post by **Colonel Kernel** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 3:25 pm

os64dev wrote:be carefull not to use the knowledge in your os, because that would be illegal

Admiral Ackbar says...

Brynet-Inc · Post by **Brynet-Inc** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 3:27 pm

I agree with Kevin, This is most definitely a trap... They would likely try using this against you if you made/worked on a competing product.

kataklinger · Post by **kataklinger** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 3:33 pm

Only ~800k for the core? I was under the impression that it was a few million total. Does the UI really take up over a million lines?

It just for kernel. WRK doesn't include source for:
- HAL
- NTFS drivers
- GUI
- millions of other standard Windows services
- network stack
- kernel debugger
- IA64 support (x64 support is included)
- a lot more

MS says that soruce code is available for some of these things in DDK.

Alboin · Post by **Alboin** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 3:43 pm

kataklinger wrote:Only ~800k for the core? I was under the impression that it was a few million total. Does the UI really take up over a million lines?

It just for kernel. WRK doesn't include source for:
- HAL
- NTFS drivers
- GUI
- millions of other standard Windows services
- network stack
- kernel debugger
- IA64 support (x64 support is included)
- a lot more

MS says that soruce code is available for some of these things in DDK.

Okay, that would make more sense then. I though 'core' constituted the HAL, NTFS, Network stack, etc.

kataklinger · Post by **kataklinger** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 3:47 pm

Brynet-Inc wrote:I agree with Kevin, This is most definitely a trap... They would likely try using this against you if you made/worked on a competing product.

Do you really think that this is a conspiracy made by Bill Gates, Pol Allen and Steve Ballmer? Do you really think that MS is going to waste time and money by suing some hobby os developer (or all of us)? What's the point? I can see why and how they could use it against companies involved in Linux development (which I seriously doubt), but suing author of some unknown, almost non-existing, half-cooked, so-called operating system which makes no profit...that is equal to insanity.

SpooK · Post by **SpooK** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 5:47 pm

kataklinger wrote:
Brynet-Inc wrote:I agree with Kevin, This is most definitely a trap... They would likely try using this against you if you made/worked on a competing product.
Do you really think that this is a conspiracy made by Bill Gates, Pol Allen and Steve Ballmer? Do you really think that MS is going to waste time and money by suing some hobby os developer (or all of us)? What's the point? I can see why and how they could use it against companies involved in Linux development (which I seriously doubt), but suing author of some unknown, almost non-existing, half-cooked, so-called operating system which makes no profit...that is equal to insanity.

AYBABTU

Colonel Kernel · Post by **Colonel Kernel** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 7:10 pm

Brynet-Inc wrote:I agree with Kevin

Argh! First, I'm Candy, now I'm Kevin! I specifically chose my nick 8 years ago to be memorable in the context of OS dev! This must be some kind of conspiracy!

kataklinger wrote:Do you really think that this is a conspiracy made by Bill Gates, Pol Allen and Steve Ballmer?

No, but later on, if it's convenient, Ballmer won't hesitate to use this as an excuse to claim that MS intellectual property has somehow leaked into competing products. This tactic is called "poisoning the well".

...that, and I just enjoy quoting Admiral Ackbar.

Brynet-Inc · Post by **Brynet-Inc** » Tue Oct 23, 2007 7:19 pm

Colonel Kernel wrote:
Brynet-Inc wrote:I agree with Kevin
Argh! First, I'm Candy, now I'm Kevin! I specifically chose my nick 8 years ago to be memorable in the context of OS dev! This must be some kind of conspiracy!

Apologies, I didn't mean to call you Kevin, won't happen again Joe...

Solar · Post by **Solar** » Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:11 am

Colonel Kernel wrote:
kataklinger wrote:Do you really think that this is a conspiracy made by Bill Gates, Pol Allen and Steve Ballmer?
This tactic is called "poisoning the well".

They won't sue a hobbyist OS project. They'll wait until it's ready to become mainstream, then sue you.