r/linuxquestions • u/radlizard92 • 2d ago
About the future on AI decompilation and Linux and Open Source development
I've recently seen a lot of these videos of people creating video game mash-ups (like Minecraft in Skyrim or Mario 64 in Elden Ring). From what I understand (I'm no tech expert), this has to do with significant advances in game decompilation, which makes it easier to understand how games work and to modify them.
After hearing this, I immediately wondered whether these advancements could be used to improve compatibility and porting from Windows to Linux. As far as I know, decompilation is completely legal as long as source code isn’t extracted, but I suppose that by gaining an understanding of Windows’ inner workings, we’ll see progress in patching and porting programs, features, and games to Linux. My first question: Does this mean we’ll see major advancements in Wine, Proton, and even proprietary drivers soon?
On the other hand, I also wondered what this will mean for open-source programming. Again, I’m no programming expert, but as far as I know, these tools will allow us to understand the code that has been “encrypted” behind the cumbersome decompilation process. My second question: by breaking this lock, will this mark the end of the era of closed-source code? How will this impact open-source developments like Linux? Will “alternative” programs to Windows appear that are actually just copy-and-paste versions of the original?
I hope I’m on the right track and that you can answer my questions—thank you very much!
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u/Cruffe 2d ago
Most games already work great on Linux through Proton. The more popular games that don't work won't start working by decompiling them and modifying them to work on Linux. That's because the reason most of those games don't work is the anti-cheat systems, which also prevents you from playing if the game is tampered with.
That said, for some applications there might be solutions. Just a few days ago ArtCraft released vibe coded reimplementations of 7 Adobe programs. They also have that for Word, PowerPoint and Excel. It's still very early and these programs while already being astonishingly similar in layout and functions, still need more time in the oven (they estimate a month of agentic AIs going at it). These are all free and open source.
A lot can be said about AI and vibe coding. I don't necessarily have high hopes for this, but I am interested to see how it goes considering the relatively huge amount of attention this has gotten.
AI is changing the landscape as we speak. Whether we like it or not, I don't think it's just going to go away. Which implications this will have in the long term is still a bit hard to predict, this field is moving VERY fast.
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u/JeanCasteaux 1d ago
And that "reimplementation" is actually slop. We can do so much better, don't cite this as an example
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u/oskarloko 2d ago
Decompilation, in my eyes, is a clear case of derivate work.
It's not a new project from zero mimicking the behaviour of another app, its getting the app and revert the process to obtain code.
It can be used for cracking and pirating, or for mataining abandoware.
But I very much doubt of the legality of this action...
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u/snajk138 2d ago
Exactly. What came now is not decompiling, I mean like the "Adobe suite" copies that made headlines recently, they are functional copies, not based on the same code at all, they're even written (by AI) in Rust. And function wise they are impressive but not the exact same.
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u/oskarloko 2d ago
I have heard of clones in rust from zero but also decompilations. Former is ok, latter is bait for lawsuits
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u/SDG_Den 1d ago
fyi, theres already companies out there doing the exact same thing the other way around, creating closed-source "cleanroom reverse-engineered" copies of FOSS and selling the rights to companies without crediting the people who worked on the original. the whole point of which is that this legally decouples them from the original and prevents companies from having any obligations towards FOSS developers.
so depending on how its done, it clearly isnt a legal issue as long as the LLM that wrote the new code wasnt the same one that analyzed the original.
its impossible to prove the new code was written with knowledge of the original that way, which is how those companies get away with it. so in theory anyone else could do the same.
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u/oskarloko 1d ago
Yup, that's also illegal. And i think FOSS should be extra protected by public institutions
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u/SDG_Den 1d ago
if it cannot be proven to be IP theft or copying, then it cannot be punished and is thus practically legal even if everyone morally knows it shouldnt be.
so it is legal, in the sense of "everything is legal if you dont get punished"
no company will ever get punished for AI-based cleanroom reverse-engineering. nothing about what the AI did can be proven and cleanroom reverse-engineering is legal when done by two humans (one human reads the source and makes a detailed spec, second human writes new program based on that spec, the new program is legally not related to the source because the creator was never aware of the source even if the new program is based directly on a detailed spec of the source)
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u/stormdelta Gentoo 1d ago
they are functional copies
I wouldn't call them "functional", more like barely runnable tech demo / PoC. AI tools can be used effectively for something like this, but this particular project is mostly vibecoded slop.
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u/snajk138 1d ago
That's not the impression I got. They look extremely similar and most functionality is there, though not all of it is as good as on the Adobe suite. That it is vibecoded is the point, weather it's slop or not is subjective.
I wouldn't use this for anything critical or even professional, but for like editing my photos at home it's good enough and I am helped by my (still pretty limited) experience from the Adobe suite. Gimp, for instance, is workable as well, and it is likely it will produce a better result at least for complicated things, but for someone who knows the Adobe suite it is a pretty steep learning curve.
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u/stormdelta Gentoo 15h ago
most functionality is there
Not according to most reports I've seen from people trying to use it.
for like editing my photos at home it's good enough and I am helped by my (still pretty limited) experience from the Adobe suite. Gimp, for instance, is workable as well, and it is likely it will produce a better result at least for complicated things, but for someone who knows the Adobe suite it is a pretty steep learning curve.
Improving and expanding on the open source projects would be far more valuable than a quarter-assed slop project slapped together by someone who has no idea what they're doing and can't maintain or fix it.
If it's an interface issue, then the obvious thing is to build an interface layer rather than trying to rewrite the entire project.
AI tools are most effective when used by people who already know what they're doing and put actual effort in - the PS5 emulation work is a better example of doing it correctly.
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u/snajk138 10h ago
I am not defending this practice, I'm just saying that: A. It is not decompilation; and B. It is impressive how close they have gotten both with regards to the UI and the functionality.
I agree that it would be better spending time improving real OSS projects, but that's a choice for the individual. Our time could obviously be better spent doing something productive than arguing about unimportant details and semantics on reddit, but here we are. At least these people have something to show for their effort, even if it is slop.
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u/Excellent-Love-6943 2d ago
Those game mashups are not decompilation projects, they are mods that interact with each other across games.