-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1
Joseph Galbraith wrote: [snip]
Probably, to be safe, we'd actually need to say:
If you look at windows in a disassembler, you MUST NOT write code for ReactOS. Sorry, thats the way it is. But wait! You can still help with the project by looking at this list (link to list) of things we need to know in order to be compatible with windows. Then, discover this information using the disassembler, and write a specification (plain English, no code or pseudo-code please) that describes what we need to know and submit it to the project for inclusion in our repository. One of our developers will then (eventually) get around to using your specification to correct our implementation to be compatible.
I'm not sure we'd ever get that through... but that is the way it should be.
Of course, I'm not a lawyer ... so what do I know.
Pseudocode should be acceptable; if you are looking at disassembly, and write pseudo-C pseudocode, you are, in effect, doing the same thing as writing it in English. The end will be code that is still as original as from a written English document. There's little difference between the two following items:
"The code works by copying a string from memory location A to memory location B, adding an extra byte after each character in the string to describe attributes."
And:
=====
string_pointer A string_pointer B
while A[location] != NULL BYTE { B[A's location * 2] = A[location] B[(A's Location * 2)+1] = WHITE ON BLACK DESCRIPTION (e.g., 70) }
=====
That is not valid code, and gets pretty much the same thing across but in a different manner. Accompanied by more verbose English to fill in some of the terseness, it's a perfect solution that does not compromise any legal coding.
- Mike