Windows XP source code leak

[StudlyCaps]

So this is a somewhat interesting one. A few articles have been circulating regarding a recent MS source code leak originating on 4chan, though reports are that the contents are as advertised, I've seen some people commenting that it's might be a compilation of existing leaks and publicly released code from MS themselves with nothing new.

Obviously it would be illegal to do anything with it and obviously no one here should do that or encourage it, but I would be curious to hear peoples take on it all.

Would you be curious to see it? Given how much influence on hardware and software development XP had, being the dominant desktop platform for something like a decade, there would surely be stuff in there that would help open source developers, maybe even us hobbyists. Code for device drivers, API implementations, lots of components rely on bug-compatible implementations of MS' system. Could open up projects to complex legal issues in the future though.

Article Link

[bzt]

Obviously it would be illegal to do anything with it

Why? WinXP is end of line for years, Microsoft has made it pretty clear they have given up on XP. They won't support it, nor sell it etc. They simply couldn't care less about XP, so I think they've lost the right to care about the source too. (And I'm also pretty sure they have enough money to pay lawyers to say otherwise, but that just doesn't make it morally right.)

Would you be curious to see it?

Well, I'm curious about all code in general, so yes, but I'm not particularly interested in this one.

Code for device drivers, API implementations, lots of components rely on bug-compatible implementations of MS' system.

I believe this is going to be an invaluable source for wine and ReactOS. I'm not saying they should steal this code, but they should definitely study it to fill up the gaps because of missing Microsoft documentation.

Cheers,
bzt

[klange]

For legal reasons, this topic should not be discussed here and I am locking this thread.