Python obfuscation

[Peter Maas]

yepp schrieb:
> Once you got the model of free and open source software you can't but shake
> your head at obfuscating people treating their users as enemies.

Sorry but this is naive nonsense. Open source is a good model but
it can't be applied everywhere. Look at the following example:

There is a company who is developing and marketing a single application.
It is a simulation software for industrial processes which embodies an
enormous amount of knowledge accumulated by the hard work of many
individuals since about twenty years, algorithmic, process, implementation,
market knowlegde. This application is of great value to the customers
because it helps them save lots of money and improve the quality of their
products. No wonder that they have (and are willing) to pay a considerable
price for it.

If the company would decide to go open source it would be dead very soon
because it wouldn't no longer have a competitive advantage. Most customers
wouldn't see the necessity to pay high prices, the competition would use
the source code in their own products, the earnings would fall rapidly and
there wouldn't be enough money availabe to pay highly skilled developpers,
engineers and scientists for continued development.

In certain sense suppliers and customers ARE enemies because they have
different interests. The customer will pay a price only if it is neccessary
to get the product. If he can get it legally for nothing he won't pay anything
or at least not enough.

So please: continue praising OSS (as I do) but don't make ideological claims
that it fits everywhere.

Peter Maas, Aachen