5 ms·

(I work for MS but not on Windows.) I don't think Windows will be open-sourced precisely because it's not as important as it used to be. It'd be a ton of work

(I work for MS but not on Windows.) I don't think Windows will be open-sourced precisely because it's not as important as it used to be. It'd be a ton of work to root out vendor code incompatible with OSS licensing, remove internal dependencies etc. That's not worth it unless we have big plans for Windows to stay relevant, which I have no knowledge of but suspect that we don't. Probably we'll see the most relevant pieces be opened up, like the driver model awhile back.

cogman10 6y ago
So while not the whole thing, seems like they could open source core pieces like the kernel. That will probably take some code reorg to achieve though so maybe that's why it'll never happen. Last I heard on HN, windows was pretty much just a giant repo with everything in it. That'd have to change for them to release core pieces (If it hasn't already).
- cglong 6y ago
  FWIW, Microsoft has been slowly shifting some components to OSS (Command Prompt, Windows Terminal, Calculator, WinUI). Disclaimer: work at Microsoft but in Azure
  - cogman10 6y ago
    As far as community trust goes, MS has been killing it for the last several years. They've done a 180 in terms of being good software citizens. I'm really hopeful that core pieces (such as the kernel) end up hitting the public eye.
  - userbinator 6y ago
    Calculator The horrible new version that is ridiculously huge, phones home, and somehow is slow enough to need a loading screen? I really wish they would've just opened the good one, but you can already find that one in the leaked 2k source...
rightbyte 6y ago
They can open source it and still keep the copyright. I mean it is not automatically GPL just becouse they put it on a public git server.
- aeyes 6y ago
  Not without refactoring third party code which is used under license.
- agar 6y ago
  Not if Windows includes source code purchased or licensed from third parties who contractually prohibit MS from publishing their source code. Which it probably does.
  - mattl 6y ago
    I think IE was based on third party stuff. I’m sure there’s bits of that floating around everywhere.
    - andrekandre 6y ago
      ncsa mosiac https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_(web_browser) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_(web_browser)
      - canucker2016 6y ago
        from the Legacy section of the NCSA Mosaic wikipedia page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_(web_browser)#Legacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_(web_browser)#Legacy: "...Versions of Internet Explorer before version 7 stated "Based on NCSA Mosaic" in the About box. Internet Explorer 7 was audited by Microsoft to ensure that it contained no Mosaic code,[39] and thus no longer credits Spyglass or Mosaic."
        andrekandre 6y ago
        > Internet Explorer 7 was audited by Microsoft to ensure that it contained no Mosaic code,[39] and thus no longer credits Spyglass or Mosaic. oh wow, thanks for the correction, cant beleive i missed that
yuhong 6y ago
I really wish the licensing and activation code would be removed as well.

cogman10 6y ago

So while not the whole thing, seems like they could open source core pieces like the kernel. That will probably take some code reorg to achieve though so maybe that's why it'll never happen. Last I heard on HN, windows was pretty much just a giant repo with everything in it. That'd have to change for them to release core pieces (If it hasn't already).

cglong 6y ago
FWIW, Microsoft has been slowly shifting some components to OSS (Command Prompt, Windows Terminal, Calculator, WinUI). Disclaimer: work at Microsoft but in Azure
- cogman10 6y ago
  As far as community trust goes, MS has been killing it for the last several years. They've done a 180 in terms of being good software citizens. I'm really hopeful that core pieces (such as the kernel) end up hitting the public eye.
- userbinator 6y ago
  Calculator The horrible new version that is ridiculously huge, phones home, and somehow is slow enough to need a loading screen? I really wish they would've just opened the good one, but you can already find that one in the leaked 2k source...

rightbyte 6y ago

They can open source it and still keep the copyright. I mean it is not automatically GPL just becouse they put it on a public git server.

aeyes 6y ago
Not without refactoring third party code which is used under license.
agar 6y ago
Not if Windows includes source code purchased or licensed from third parties who contractually prohibit MS from publishing their source code. Which it probably does.
- mattl 6y ago
  I think IE was based on third party stuff. I’m sure there’s bits of that floating around everywhere.
  - andrekandre 6y ago
    ncsa mosiac https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_(web_browser) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_(web_browser)
    - canucker2016 6y ago
      from the Legacy section of the NCSA Mosaic wikipedia page, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_(web_browser)#Legacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_(web_browser)#Legacy: "...Versions of Internet Explorer before version 7 stated "Based on NCSA Mosaic" in the About box. Internet Explorer 7 was audited by Microsoft to ensure that it contained no Mosaic code,[39] and thus no longer credits Spyglass or Mosaic."
      - andrekandre 6y ago
        > Internet Explorer 7 was audited by Microsoft to ensure that it contained no Mosaic code,[39] and thus no longer credits Spyglass or Mosaic. oh wow, thanks for the correction, cant beleive i missed that

yuhong 6y ago

I really wish the licensing and activation code would be removed as well.