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this post was submitted on 25 Apr 2026
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Linux
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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If MS just released the source of W95 as GPL you could still use the existing proprietary drivers, but like now you'd still have to download them from each vendor.
Making it possible to study the code itself would allow WINE devs to audit their code for edge cases and get W95-era compatibility to pretty much 100%
My concern is, that the proprietary drivers wouldn't work, because they are for older hardware. I am curious how this work out. Maybe the developers from ReactOS could work together to adapt some of their drivers into GPL W95? I have no idea. Just open sourcing the code is not enough to use Windows 95 on modern hardware.
Ah i see. You are right, new hardware would need new drivers.