4 ms·
If you really want to see some Windows source code. You can just ask them - and they will send it to you. It's not open source and there are limits to what you
by KGIII 9y ago
If you really want to see some Windows source code. You can just ask them - and they will send it to you. It's not open source and there are limits to what you can do with it.
They call it their Shared Source Initiative. They want a reason for sharing it with you but I have used, 'I am just curious.' With that excuse, this was a long time ago when I still used Windows, I got the specific code I wanted for Outlook Express.
- wfunction 9y agoHow do you "ask them"? Do they have an email address for this? Or do you have to find the right guy on the team somehow?
- gtirloni 9y agoWindows Shared Source initiative has existed for what, over 10 years now? https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sharedsource/ https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sharedsource/ I think this "leak" is greatly exhagerated.
- wfunction 9y agoNone of those categories seem to include ordinary developers though?
- KGIII 9y agoIf your company, or you, have a relationship with Microsoft, try the Enterprise. They are pretty lenient, though not always rapid in their responses.
- wfunction 9y agoBut the point is you need to already have a relationship, right? It seems you can't just say "I'm curious" (or even better, "I want to track down X bug") and expect to get source access, contrary to what was claimed earlier... Enterprise specifically says you need to "Maintain 10,000 Windows seats" which is not something a lone developer would do...
- KGIII 9y agoMy only tie was having an MSDN subscription.
- wfunction 9y agoAnd you got it through the Enterprise license? Through your company or personally? Nothing related to 10,000 Windows seats? That's pretty weird if so since they say you must meet that requirement...
- KGIII 9y agoI didn't misrepresent myself, was logged in, and had no issues. They may have changed it, but that is what I selected. You'll probably have to sign an NDA. Give it a shot.
- withinrafael 9y agoEven community MVPs get access to this stuff.
- afpx 9y agoI haven't worked directly with Microsoft for well over 15 years, but this sounds similar to what I remember. Back then I worked for a partner who was doing direct integration work against low-level SQL Server and Windows libraries. Often when we encountered obscure bugs, they'd just give us the SQL Server or Windows source code and basically say, "Fix it, and we will release a hot fix." All of the comments would be replaced with white space which made things more difficult.
- Teever 9y agoDo they share the code for the windows update mechanisms and the code for cortana and other spyware that is installed by default in windows?