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Windows XP source code has leaked

gizmodo.com.au

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Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#81

Post by Hackbraten »

jononor wrote: post #58
codegladiator wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> proprietary operating systems to be actively working against you Where is this happening ? Are we expecting this now ? What did I miss

The amount of user data collected in Windows 10 for example. Next to no user benefits, just value extracted for Microsoft. Automatic updates on reboot. For example when someone giving a presentation or class has to restart their computer for some reason (quite common in Windows still, or one just ran out of power). Boot up the computer, people waiting impatiently - and then have to wait for 5-30 minutes for the compu…

Unpopular opinion but: telemetrics help developers prioritize stuff and triage bugs. From a user’s point of view, isn’t that a substantial benefit?

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#82

Post by hrktb »

asveikau wrote: post #56
matthewmacleod wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nostalgia is, it seems, a hell of a drug.

In early Windows XP days everybody said it was crap compared to Win2k. XP was the first one with product activation as well. And people called the Luna theme childish. Then Vista came along and people said XP was the good one.

Funny enough win2k was the first to have a somewhat decent multi-language management, in particular you didn’t need a dedicated CJK version. So that’s where the nostalgia loop would stop for a lot of us (and it was buggy as hell, of course)

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#83

Post by sdfqasdghj »

rblatz wrote: post #77
jononor wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The amount of user data collected in Windows 10 for example. Next to no user benefits, just value extracted for Microsoft. Automatic updates on reboot. For example when someone giving a presentation or class has to restart their computer for some reason (quite common in Windows still, or one just ran out of power). Boot up the computer, people waiting impatiently - and then have to wait for 5-30 minutes for the compu…

I go months without needing to reboot windows, and have for over a decade. Typically if I need to reboot it’s due to an update or software that requires a reboot to install.

How? When I last used Windows it forced a reboot to do updates once a month. If I let it pick the time it was often a bad time.

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#84

Post by segfaultbuserr »

cjones26 wrote: post #11

I wonder how this will affect other projects, such as ReactOS and Wine. Exciting.

To FOSS projects, leaked source code is highly toxic and infectious. The FOSS community's attitude on leaked source is similar to the corporate world's attitude towards GPL in the early 2000s, but unlike GPL, this is not just exaggerated FUD - the dangers of leaked, unauthorized or proprietary source code is real. Once leaked sources found its way to FOSS projects, the entire project may become illegal and face potential lawsuits (see the history of how BSD was almost killed by AT&T's lawyers). And once leaked sources found its way to your brain, it's not 100% safe [0] to work on FOSS anymore and the best option is banning yourself from participating similar projects, it's almost a memetic virus.

Projects on reverse-engineering and reimplementing proprietary technologies are the most vulnerable. A decade ago, ReactOS's development was suspended for years until the codebase has been reviewed.

[0] It's not illegal. If you can absolutely guarantee your work is not a derivative work based on the leaked source, but just a reimplementation, it's fine to proceed (the clean-room approach is not always needed, it simply offers the strongest legal guarantee). But for a big project with numerous contributors, the risk is high.

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#85

Post by Answerawake »

mindfulhack wrote: post #57
choeger wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They won't. Such backdoors would have to be hidden from Joe Average Coder at Microsoft first and foremost. Coding for MS is not a livelong thing, you know? So any backdoor would a) be obfuscated and b) have some form of plausible deniability. If I would have to make them, they would look like strings of two or three bugs.

Likely you're right, but let's see if anything can become plausibly demonstrable after obsessive scrutiny. Like many situations in life, it may depend on whether someone determined / resourceful enough wants to do this. There may be no one with sufficient motivation. Also, it's not just (allegedly) all of XP source that's been leaked: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/the-windows-... It's also Windows S…

Do you know if there is source code for classic Windows apps like the Calculator, Notepad or Paint? Would love to recreate those simple apps and chuck the lousy Linux/Mac equivalents.

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#88

Post by breakingcups »

banana_giraffe wrote: post #7
enjoyyourlife wrote: post #2

https://twitter.com/RoninDey/status/1309275918943301636 https://anonfiles.com/Ffn8u2Yaoa/Microsoft_leaked_source_cod...

Interesting, this one adds nt5src.7z windows_research_kernel/Windows Kernel Source Code like.7z windows_research_kernel/wrktools.7z to a version of this torrent that was released a few days ago. I wonder if this is going to be an ongoing leak.

All these files have been out there for ages. Especially the WRK, which anyone with a .edu could already download.

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#89

Post by LargoLasskhyfv »

SquareWheel wrote: post #67
sdfsdfh wrote: post #25

Creator of the torrent posted on reddit about it: https://www.reddit.com/r/windowsxp/comments/iz46du/the_windo...

>And also, Microsoft claims to love open source so then I guess they'll love how open this source code is now that it's passed around on BitTorrent. One can love open-source and still be against license violations. What a warped world view.

License is violation!

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#90

Post by ObscureScience »

cblconfederate wrote: post #65
xyproto wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then Windows 7 came along and nobody said Vista was the good one.

i think the consensus is that windows 95, XP, 7 were the least troublesome versions. I still think 7 > 10

To me it's always been win2k, win 7, win 10, win 98. In tthat order. I've been using win2k rather than windows xp when I need legacy application support, though you might need to jump through some hoops for XP compatibility and drivers.

Though I've been inpressed by how snappy windows 8 feels, especially the boot time which is the fastest of all versions.

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