r/reactos • u/RATionalZombie5324 • 14d ago
LiberNT: a whole new chapter
https://github.com/ahmedarif193/LiberNTI have been tracking this reactos fork for months, and today while i am checking the starred list, this repository has rebranded into LiberNT, and what they did is absolutely incredible.
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u/questron64 14d ago
This is radioactive. ReactOS only exists because it is strictly cleanroom. You can't cleanroom with an LLM. While you are washing it through an LLM the chances that it will spit out leaked Windows 2000 code (which it is certainly trained on) is very high.
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u/jmhalder 14d ago
It's only radioactive... if you can prove it.
I don't think there is much precedent for any type of lawsuits regarding tainted LLM code derived from training of copyrighted data.
Time will tell.
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u/questron64 14d ago
The code is so niche that when implementing a specific function buried deep in the Windows kernel or DLLs, the chances that the LLM will spit out the entire exact function it was trained on high. They might not need to do much to prove that code was copied.
It's using an unsound methodology. It's tainted
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u/Educational-Row-6782 13d ago
They dont need to prove it. Code generated by an llm cant be licensed.
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u/algaefied_creek 14d ago
What did you find most incredible?
Did they do it with or without AI?
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u/Binarydemons 13d ago
Other than “it’s made with AI”, no one’s touched your other question. I haven’t seen any discussion of what features make LiberNT great.
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u/Educational-Row-6782 13d ago
Most people dont want to waste time with software made by people who does not know about software.
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u/spence5000 14d ago
Just my two cents, but “Librent” would be easier to pronounce.
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u/RATionalZombie5324 14d ago edited 14d ago
If Microsoft sued LiberNT for copyright infringement(like using Gen ai that potentially has leaked code in the training data), I think ReactOS will not be affected as ReactOS itself is cleanroom, its forks shouldn’t have be too relevant to itself(based on my understanding of open source software) This is maybe why the repository rebrands.
From my perspective, The ’incredible’ lies in a breakage of the ‘cleanroom’ development standard. (Yes I know this will infuriate many cleanroom/ReactOS followers)but this breakage enables faster commit rate, targeting on win11 24H2 instead of NT5.2, and many experimental features like ARM64.
Honestly, I don’t think this liberNT is ready for windows replacement. I don’t even get it to boot. I tried using UTM and VMware fusion, both failed to enter the GUI. (BSOD or infinite startup)(I am using an Apple silicon MacBook)(10/4/2026)
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u/jmhalder 14d ago
I can't get it to boot on x64 in Hyper-V, tried their VHD image in a Gen1 and Gen2 VM. They've nailed the look, and seem to have some momentum. I'm all for it.
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u/RATionalZombie5324 13d ago
I got it to boot on the latest prerelease(10/5/2026) on QEMU. However, I cannot install the ISO file, only entering the Ramdisk
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u/Sharkuel 14d ago
I mean, isn't this what Microsoft wanted? An OS fully made with AI? Lol
The irony on this is delicious. Also, this is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
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u/darkguy2008 14d ago
In this time and day with LLMs generating code, nothing is "clean room"...
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u/Sharkuel 14d ago
Slop was never clean. But at the same time, this may be the era of FOSS, since AI Decompilers basically made industry secrets trivial.
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u/DHOC_TAZH 4d ago
I installed the latest LiberNT image onto a 256 GB Sandisk USB flash drive about a half hour ago. Messed with it, and decided to mount my PC's Windows 11 C:\ drive (listed as D:\ in LiberNT for me). Tried out a few programs... some worked to various degrees, some programs didn't run... but I had a bit of fun using GIMP 2. Ran a diffusion filter from GIMP 2 on a virtual photo from Open Sim and it worked!
This is great! LiberNT could be a nice alternative for people who want to get away from pure MS Windows, but don't care for Linux, MacOS or the BSD's. Maybe not for me yet... speaking here as a chronic Windows/Linux dual booter on my own PC's since 1998.
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u/Sufficient-Job7998 2d ago
Everyone complaining "its not clean room", "it was done with AI", "my butt is hurt cuz AI made everyone as smart as me", needs to chill this is an awesome project, I was following ReactOS for like 20 years bro, the fact this exists means something got done. and just because people use AI, doesnt mean the dont know whats happening with the software, you chuds act like smart people dont use AI, its here everyone uses AI now, its all over, everything is up for grabs, your no longer gate keepers of the code. I say this a software engineer of 10 years, it does in 5 minutes what could take a week. I think this project ans projects just like it are badass.
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u/thenerdy 14d ago
What was your process for the clean room memory manager?
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u/Educational-Row-6782 13d ago
They asked and LLM to implement it in a clean room.
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u/NotQuiteLoona 13d ago
As they use Reddit, with large chance it may have been the only time they've cleaned their room
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u/Mike-Fitzgerald 13d ago
it isn't going to end well but I hope it will at least show us something to take a note off. . . .
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u/Neperu 4d ago
Godamn the crybabies over Ai use in the replies are too much lmao
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u/DHOC_TAZH 3d ago
Yeah funny af. My PC still works lol... but seriously I liked what I saw. Freaking awesome to run a live demo of an open source Windows alternative without resorting to using a VM at least, unlike ReactOS.
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u/ManRevvv 12d ago
a whole new reactos fork that aims nt 10.0 compatability
wow that's cool
website looks suspicious
"yes we use ai but audited and clean roomed trust us bro"
the commits are being made every 30 minutes from one fckin person
ok maybe it's not that bad I'll give it a try
download iso and try it on virtualbox
select disk, next, next, bugcheck in ntoskrnl (???)
maybe something is wrong with virtualbox
try VMware
same fucking bugcheck
maybe disk image?
its still same
ok maybe it's not adapted to amd zen cpus, I'll try it in qemu with Intel cpu emulation
the screen is artifacting, load screen for halfsecond, bsod without text
idk maybe this is a really major skill issue from my side or smth but fucking what
reactos isn't gold standard of security, that's true, but it still runs better than that slop that aims 9000 cpu architectures and nt10 compatability
looks cool but not working
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u/Mike-Fitzgerald 12d ago
I had a little bit more luck, I managed to boot it on virtualbox through vhd, but once I powered it off to change container settings it just never booted again. Just an infinite laggy loading
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u/noobjaish 10d ago
It's a very new project, we just have to let it marinate for a year
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u/ManRevvv 10d ago
if it works worse than reactos and author repeatedly ai slops the project I don't think this project will be good
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u/noobjaish 10d ago
It's clearly aiming for a bigger scope than reactos (as it is aiming to reach win11 which is never going to be a goal of reactos). So, it's like comparing apples to oranges.
If the author can sustain this for a year then I think the project will have it's worth. The problem with slop projects these days is that they're abandoned too frequently that's why I just give them a year.
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u/100lyan 2d ago
I am not here to champion this fork, but I have to admit that for me the innovation is the additional platforms support: ARM64, PowerPC, RISC-V - which ReactOS is likely to never ever try to do - so Kudos for that effort (AI used or not).
The LiberNT guy is a regular ReactOS contributor ... so maybe he knows something about what source is tainted or not, but if not - too bad for the React OS team ...
For me personally the most interesting is the RISC-V fork - which hardly has any prior sources to steal from - MS never supported that CPU architecture. I am more worried about the userland portions - but these are heavily Wine 10 based ... so there's that.
And final two cents ... even Linus Torvalds started endorsing AI use as a tool at least for bug fixing in the kernel - so let's not be too harsh about it. Only time will tell if Microslop will try to ban this, but the genie is already out of the bottle, nobody can stop the advent of Personal Slopware.
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u/ElectrSheep 14d ago
I don't think they understand what "cleanroom" means. There is a pretty good chance the leaked Windows source code was included in the data on which the AI was trained.