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Attribution and Legal Compliance

LSW Development is Based on Publicly Available Resources

This project (LSW - Linux Subsystem for Windows) is built using publicly available documentation and open source code released by Microsoft to encourage interoperability.

Primary Sources

1. Microsoft Open Specifications

URL: https://www.microsoft.com/openspecifications/

Microsoft's official Open Specifications program provides detailed technical documentation for protocols and technologies implemented in Microsoft products. These specifications are provided to help developers build interoperable solutions.

What we use:

  • Windows Protocols documentation
  • PE (Portable Executable) format specifications
  • Windows API interface documentation
  • Registry format specifications
  • Filesystem protocol specifications

Reference Document: openspecs-windows_protocols-ms-rdpegfx.pdf (404 pages)

2. Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) - Open Source

Repository: https://github.com/microsoft/WSL
License: MIT License
Our Fork: https://github.com/barrersoftware/WSL-research

Microsoft open-sourced WSL2 to encourage community contribution and transparency. We study this codebase to understand how Microsoft bridges Linux and Windows environments.

What we learn from WSL:

  • Process and VM management architecture
  • Filesystem bridge implementation
  • Inter-OS communication protocols
  • Resource management strategies

We apply these lessons in reverse - instead of running Linux on Windows kernel, we run Windows on Linux kernel.

3. WSL2 Linux Kernel - Open Source

Repository: https://github.com/microsoft/WSL2-Linux-Kernel
License: GPL v2 (Linux kernel standard)
Our Fork: https://github.com/barrersoftware/WSL2-Kernel-Research

Microsoft's Linux kernel with WSL2-specific patches. We study these modifications to understand kernel-level integration requirements.

Legal Standing

Clean Room Implementation

LSW is a clean room implementation based on:

  1. Published specifications (Microsoft Open Specs)
  2. Open source code study (MIT-licensed WSL2)
  3. Public API documentation
  4. Reverse architecture approach (not reverse engineering)

No Proprietary Code

  • ✅ We do NOT use any closed-source Microsoft code
  • ✅ We do NOT reverse-engineer Windows binaries
  • ✅ We do NOT violate any patents or copyrights
  • ✅ We implement based on public specifications

Inspired by WSL

If Microsoft can build WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux):

  • Runs Linux binaries on Windows kernel
  • Open sourced under MIT license
  • Encouraged for community use

Then we can build LSW (Linux Subsystem for Windows):

  • Runs Windows binaries on Linux kernel
  • Open source under MIT license
  • Encourages interoperability

Same concept. Opposite direction. Equally legal.

Benefits to Microsoft

LSW actually expands Microsoft's market:

  • ✅ Makes Windows software run on more platforms
  • ✅ Increases value of Windows development
  • ✅ Drives Microsoft Store/Office/Azure usage on Unix systems
  • ✅ Proves Windows APIs are the universal standard
  • ✅ No extra development work required from Microsoft

Compliance Statement

This project complies with:

  • Microsoft Open Specification Promise
  • MIT License terms (WSL2)
  • GPL v2 (Linux kernel)
  • Clean room implementation principles
  • Interoperability fair use

Acknowledgments

We acknowledge and thank Microsoft for:

  • Publishing Open Specifications documentation
  • Open sourcing WSL2 codebase
  • Proving the cross-OS compatibility architecture
  • Supporting interoperability and innovation

LSW would not be possible without Microsoft's commitment to openness and interoperability.

References

  1. Microsoft Open Specifications Program
    https://www.microsoft.com/openspecifications/

  2. WSL GitHub Repository (MIT License)
    https://github.com/microsoft/WSL

  3. WSL2 Linux Kernel (GPL v2)
    https://github.com/microsoft/WSL2-Linux-Kernel

  4. Microsoft Open Specification Promise
    https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/openspecs/dev_center/ms-devcentlp/51a0d3ff-9f77-464c-b83f-2de08ed28134

  5. Wine Legal FAQ (precedent for Windows compatibility)
    https://wiki.winehq.org/Developer_FAQ#Is_it_legal_to_write_Windows-compatible_software.3F

LSW is a legal, ethical, open-source project built on publicly available resources to promote cross-platform interoperability.

If you have concerns or questions about LSW's legal standing, please open an issue or contact us at legal@barrersoftware.com

🏴‍☠️ BarrerSoftware - Building bridges, not walls