4 ms·

Then where can i download the Windows source code and build my own version of it? I'd like to get rid of the compositor and bring back the classic theme. Micro

Then where can i download the Windows source code and build my own version of it? I'd like to get rid of the compositor and bring back the classic theme. Microsoft was on the "wrong side of the history" wrt. open source only because others figured out how to take advantage of the shared labor programmers put towards open source and work around the markets where Microsoft had near absolute dominance - so Microsoft was forced to play ball. In markets where Microsoft still dominates (e.g. desktop) their open source efforts are of the "let's opensource the Windows Calculator, we love Open Source, teehee" variety.

colejohnson66 6y ago
It’s actually possible to get the source code to Microsoft. Seriously. You just have to be big enough and have a good enough reason. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sharedsource/ https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sharedsource/
- fsflover 6y ago
  The source code is not the point. The point is the freedoms of FOSS.
  - colejohnson66 6y ago
    Microsoft can’t open source windows. Not that they don’t want to; they can’t. There’s too much of other companies proprietary stuff in it. Microsoft didn’t write all of Windows; they’ve licensed some stuff from other companies, and they almost certainly don’t have a right to release the source code for it all. Basically, Windows wasn’t written to be open source, so the effort involved to do so is insurmountable.
    - jka 6y ago
      Would the atomic structure of the universe begin to unbind if someone at Microsoft started tagging and removing proprietary elements of the codebase and gained approval to push the remainder of it to GitHub? (my point is that "can't", "too much", and "insurmountable" are rarely words that make sense in the realm of software, especially given sufficient time -- and any missing interfaces can be removed and re-implemented; in fact it's likely that existing open source alternatives already exist for most of them)
- badsectoracula 6y ago
  Then it isn't open source. Nor any useful to me or most people, really.

colejohnson66 6y ago

It’s actually possible to get the source code to Microsoft. Seriously. You just have to be big enough and have a good enough reason. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sharedsource/ https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sharedsource/

fsflover 6y ago
The source code is not the point. The point is the freedoms of FOSS.
- colejohnson66 6y ago
  Microsoft can’t open source windows. Not that they don’t want to; they can’t. There’s too much of other companies proprietary stuff in it. Microsoft didn’t write all of Windows; they’ve licensed some stuff from other companies, and they almost certainly don’t have a right to release the source code for it all. Basically, Windows wasn’t written to be open source, so the effort involved to do so is insurmountable.
  - jka 6y ago
    Would the atomic structure of the universe begin to unbind if someone at Microsoft started tagging and removing proprietary elements of the codebase and gained approval to push the remainder of it to GitHub? (my point is that "can't", "too much", and "insurmountable" are rarely words that make sense in the realm of software, especially given sufficient time -- and any missing interfaces can be removed and re-implemented; in fact it's likely that existing open source alternatives already exist for most of them)
badsectoracula 6y ago
Then it isn't open source. Nor any useful to me or most people, really.