ReactOS Forum

A silly question:
ReactOS uses Windows NT's kernel as its kernel,but how come it be free software if it use Microsoft's stuff?

ROS use it's own MS WinNT compatible kernel...

Charlie wrote:A silly question:
ReactOS uses Windows NT's kernel as its kernel,but how come it be free software if it use Microsoft's stuff?

ROS doesn't use WinNT's kernel, or any code ever written by anyone working for MSFT for that matter.

The only thing ROS has in common with Windows are the API calls (the functions applications call when they want to, for example, send data to the soundcard, or create a pop-up message) and certain pecularities of Windows which have to be replicated to ensure full compatibility.

In short, ROS simply re-implements Windows' functionality through publicly available information (API-calls) and reverse engineering (without decompiling and such, as this would equal copyright infringement). It's the same process as WINE and Samba use to ensure compatibility with Windows.