closed source

[Peter Hansen]

Milos Prudek wrote:
> 
> > Numerous (*many*) past discussions of this have occurred... check the archives.
> 
> I would. I could not find web-searchable archives.

Groups.google.com is quite capable.  Use "comp.lang.python" in
the search, or use the more flexible Advanced Search page.

> This will not protect against illegal copying, however. Let's say that I
> need to create a program that could be downloaded as a demo, with
> activation code sent to people who purchase the software. This code
> could be generated by a small C program that creates a hash of the
> purchaser's hardware config. Inside the main Python program there would
> be an extension written in C that would check the activation code
> against the purchaser's hardware.
> 
> The idea here is that C is much harder to decompile than Python.

As has been noted in the past, it's not that much harder.  Most useful
software is cracked within days of its release, or even earlier.  I
saw a cracked copy of a popular German CAD package on a Warez site
*before* it was sent to me by mail in the form of my free upgrade
(issued as soon as the software was ready).  This is not unusual,
so when we advise you not to bother, we're just trying to make sure
you aren't lulled into a false sense of security.

> Now, for popular software such as Windows or Dreamweaver any protection
> is useless, because the demand for pirated software is too strong and
> the best minds pit against this protection. The program I talk about is
> intended for a very small market, though.

Trust me, this German CAD package (Eagle) does not have a very large
market compared to things like Dreamweaver.

> BTW I am a huge fan of Open Source. This is simply a technical question
> that a client asked.
> 
> Is this protection implementable?

I think I basically covered that in my first response, in the parts
which refrained from expressing any judgment, if you'd care to check
them again. :-)  (An even shorter summary: no.)

-Peter