Windows XP source code leaked online, on 4chan, out of all places

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The source code for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and other Microsoft operating systems have been published online this week.

The OS sources were leaked online as a 42.9 GB torrent file on 4chan, an online message board often frequented by trolls and extremist groups.
The content of this torrent file includes source code for several of Microsoft's older operating systems, such as Windows 2000, Embedded (CE 3, CE 4, CE 5, CE, 7), Windows NT (3.5 and 4), XP, and Server 2003.
The files also contained the source code of the first Xbox operating system, MS-DOS (3.30 and 6), and the source code for various Windows 10 components.
 
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Soulbound

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Meanwhile I wouldnt worry to much about this leak. I do agree it seems more of a Stunt than anything else, since of all places, this was leaked to 4chan...

You dont really need the source code to reverse engineer something or find loop holes. You can do that already with the OS itself as long as you have a copy... just takes longer.
 

silversurfer

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"So, upon further inspection, the XP source code might not be as complete as we previously thought, as it doesn't compile a critical file, winlogon.exe However, there is also an Server 2003 sc in that leak, so let's see how far that goes... Stay tuned!" the developer tweeted.
 

redsworn

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I wonder if this will lead to improvement in WINE. I sure hope it will.
They can't and most likely won't even try to touch it with a barge pole for two reasons.
1. To avoid themselves getting sued. Leak doesn't equal to opensource. Proprietary codes don't automatically become opensource if they got leaked. And integrating or using proprietary codes into an opensource project can be illegal.
2. It's against WINE's Clean Room Guidelines.
 

vaccineboy

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They can't and most likely won't even try to touch it with a barge pole for two reasons.
1. To avoid themselves getting sued. Leak doesn't equal to opensource. Proprietary codes don't automatically become opensource if they got leaked. And integrating or using proprietary codes into an opensource project can be illegal.
2. It's against WINE's Clean Room Guidelines.
I'm not a tech person so in my understanding, I was hoping that it will help them, in private, understand the code better, instead of touch and feel in the dark. But again, I'm not techie so I have no idea how they write WINE code in the 1st place and if this could benefit them in that way.
 

Lenny_Fox

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I'm not a tech person so in my understanding, I was hoping that it will help them, in private, understand the code better, instead of touch and feel in the dark. But again, I'm not techie so I have no idea how they write WINE code in the 1st place and if this could benefit them in that way.
It is always easier to have the source code of the program which you want to emulate, but emulation itself has limitations when a program interacts with drivers or hardware related services, so I would not expect big improvements, Have a look at outlook for instance (link), it never worked well with Wine.
 

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