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Comment by ipunchghosts | Hacker News Reader

I would think claude code would help make a quick dent in boosting reactos capabilities. Curious what others think.

I would rather not. While it is already highly questionable to use it normally because it steals opensource code, but let's give it a pass for this thought experiment, it probably scrapped the multiple git repository of Windows leaked source code. In which case it would ABSOLUTELY undermine the project's ability to say it's a clean room implementation

How do you steal open source code? It's open.

You violate the license (such as GPL)

Copyright licenses are not one word. They are written with intent, and usually at minimum that intent is to credit the original author.

"it probably scrapped the multiple git repository of Windows leaked source code. In which case it would ABSOLUTELY undermine the project's ability to say it's a clean room implementation"

If an LLM model has been fed leaked code, then that is a general problem for that model and for its use for anything. Singling out its use for an open-source project and denouncing that as a potential problem while otherwise keeping quiet about it just makes no sense. Just take legal action against the model if there's anything plausible to warrant that, don't weaponize it against open-source projects.

All LLM have probably as they scrape github, and there are still to this day multiple Windows XP source code live on it (I won't give links but they are pretty easy to find). And I'd bet there is way more than just windows leaks on there...

If they use Copilot it is probably fair game.

Various versions of Windows have had their source code leaked out in part or almost whole. If Claude produces an exact copy, like LLMs used to do with the fast inverse square root from Doom, Microsoft would have good reason to sue and it'd be on the project to prove that the copyright violation was done by a bot (which makes it legal now).

With the project essentially implementing the entire API method by method, the chances of LLMs repeating some of the leaked source code would be tremendous.

A one-directional fork of ReactOS might be able to make some fast progress for a few people who desperately need certain programs to work, but I don't think the project will benefit from LLMs.

Well, it's not Claude, it's GitHub Copilot (which happens to be owned by none other than... guess who): https://github.com/reactos/reactos/pull/8516

But, if any such model got fed with leaked code, then how is this a specific open-source project's problem and not of all projects (either open-source or private) that got to ever use that model?

Then, (having thought this just now) how can an argument relying on (legally) undisclosed information be used against anything public? Isn't the onus on the party having the undisclosed information to prove that it preceded the public one? How can that precedence be trusted by an independent judging party if the undisclosed information (source-code and systems managing that source code) is and always has been in the hands of the accusing (thus biased) party?

I think it's not ready yet but I agree that eventually it will be. The 40th anniversary of ReactOS might have some substantial features. This is the decade of ReactOS!

The new graphics driver stack they're touting (capable of running unmodified modern windows display drivers) along with support for x86_64 landing may result in increased interest in the project. They've already made a lot of progress with almost no resources as is. It's truly an impressive project.

I don't think Claude code (or any LLM) is adequate for any programming task, much less something highly technical like an OS project.

I think it would be an elephant in a china shop. ReactOS doesn’t come from React (JS Library)

A cleanroom trained LLM would be needed, no?

Nah, since the LLM is a copyright removal device: https://www.quippd.com/writing/2025/12/17/AIs-unpaid-debt-ho...

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