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LSW Sources and References

This document tracks ALL external sources used in LSW development. Every API we implement, every specification we reference, every document we study.

Purpose: Legal transparency and proper attribution.

Microsoft Official Documentation

Microsoft Learn (Primary Documentation Portal)

Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/
License: Public documentation, free to use
Usage: Primary reference hub for all Microsoft technical documentation

Sub-portals:

Win32 API Documentation

Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/
Alternate: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/ (redirects to learn.microsoft.com)
License: Public documentation, free to use
Usage: Primary reference for Win32 function signatures and behavior

Specific Functions Implemented:

PE Format Documentation

Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/debug/pe-format
Alternate: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/debug/pe-format (redirects)
Usage: Understanding Windows executable file format

Windows Data Types

Source: [MS-DTYP] Windows Data Types
URL: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/openspecs/windows_protocols/ms-dtyp/
Alternate: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/openspecs/windows_protocols/ms-dtyp/ (redirects)
Usage: Standard Windows data type definitions

Microsoft Open Specifications

Main Portal: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/openspecs/
License: Microsoft Open Specification Promise (OSP)

Specifications Referenced:

  1. [MS-DTYP] Windows Data Types
  2. [MS-ERREF] Windows Error Codes
  3. [MS-RDP] Remote Desktop Protocol (for understanding Windows architecture)

Open Source Projects (Research Only)

Wine Project

URL: https://gitlab.winehq.org/wine/wine
License: LGPL
Usage: Research reference for Win32 API behavior (NO CODE COPIED)
What We Learn: How Win32 functions should behave, edge cases, error handling

ReactOS

URL: https://github.com/reactos/reactos
License: GPL
Usage: Research reference for NT kernel architecture (NO CODE COPIED)
What We Learn: Kernel structure, syscall organization, design patterns

Microsoft GitHub Repositories

Organization: https://github.com/microsoft

Repositories Studied:

  1. Windows-Driver-Frameworks
    URL: https://github.com/microsoft/Windows-Driver-Frameworks
    Usage: Understanding driver architecture and kernel interfaces

  2. terminal
    URL: https://github.com/microsoft/terminal
    Usage: Understanding Windows console APIs

  3. STL
    URL: https://github.com/microsoft/STL
    Usage: Understanding Windows C++ runtime structure

Note: We study these for ARCHITECTURE and BEHAVIOR understanding only. We do NOT copy code.

Books and Publications

Windows Internals (7th Edition)

Authors: Pavel Yosifovich, Mark Russinovich, David Solomon, Alex Ionescu
Publisher: Microsoft Press
ISBN: 978-0135462409
Usage: Understanding NT kernel architecture and internal structures

Undocumented Windows 2000 Secrets

Author: Sven Schreiber
Publisher: Addison-Wesley
Usage: Understanding undocumented NT behaviors

Standards and Protocols

PE/COFF Specification

Source: Microsoft PE/COFF Specification
URL: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/debug/pe-format
Usage: Parsing Windows executables

C Runtime Library Standards

Source: ISO C Standard Documentation
Usage: Implementing MSVCRT compatibility

Development Tools (All Legal)

MinGW-w64

URL: https://www.mingw-w64.org/
License: Public domain and various free licenses
Usage: Cross-compiling Windows test applications

x86_64-w64-mingw32-gcc

Package: Available in Ubuntu/Debian repositories
Usage: Building test executables for LSW validation

Testing Resources

Public Test Applications

All test applications (hello.exe, test.exe) are built by us using MinGW-w64 from our own source code.

Source Code:

  • test.c: Our own test code
  • hello.c: Our own hello world implementation
  • examples/: All written by BarrerSoftware

Code Review Standards

Every Implementation Must Have:

  1. ✅ Comment citing the specification used
  2. ✅ URL to public documentation
  3. ✅ Statement that implementation is our own
  4. ✅ No proprietary code used

Example:

/**
 * lsw_VirtualAlloc - Allocate virtual memory
 * 
 * Reference: Microsoft Win32 API Documentation
 * https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/memoryapi/nf-memoryapi-virtualalloc
 * 
 * Specification: Documented Win32 function signature and behavior
 * Implementation: BarrerSoftware clean-room implementation using Linux mmap()
 * 
 * NO Microsoft source code used
 */

What We DO NOT Use

Prohibited Sources:

❌ Windows source code (proprietary, never accessed)
❌ Leaked Microsoft code (illegal, never used)
❌ Decompiled Windows binaries (reverse engineering of code)
❌ Proprietary debugging symbols
❌ Confidential Microsoft documentation
❌ Code from non-open-source Windows projects

Attribution Policy

When implementing any Windows API function:

  1. Identify Source: Find public documentation
  2. Document Reference: Add URL to source code comments
  3. Clean-Room Implementation: Write our own code
  4. Test Behavior: Verify against documented behavior
  5. Track in SOURCES.md: Add to this document

Legal Compliance Checklist

Before implementing any new API:

  • Is the API documented publicly? (Yes = proceed, No = skip)
  • Have we found the specification URL? (Add to comments)
  • Are we implementing behavior, not copying code? (Always yes)
  • Have we added proper attribution? (Required)
  • Is this tracked in SOURCES.md? (This file)

Updates and Maintenance

This document is updated whenever:

  • New APIs are implemented
  • New documentation sources are found
  • New research materials are consulted
  • Legal requirements change

Maintainer: BarrerSoftware Development Team
Last Updated: January 1, 2026
Version: 1.0

Contact

Questions about our sources or legal compliance?

We are committed to full transparency and legal compliance.

🏴‍☠️ Every line of code, every reference, fully documented.