Windows installer from python source code without access to source code

[Chris Angelico]

On Fri, 31 Mar 2023 at 23:01, Jim Schwartz <jschwar at sbcglobal.net> wrote:
>
> I want a windows installer to install my application that's written in
> python, but I don't want the end user to have access to my source code.
>
>
>
> Is that possible using python?  I was using cx-freeze, but that has the
> source code available.  So does pyinstaller.  I think gcc does, too.
>
>
>
> Does anyone know of a way to do this?
>

Fundamentally no, it's not. Python code will always be distributed as
some form of bytecode. The only way to make it available without
revealing anything is to put it on a server and let people access it
without running it themselves.

But why is that a problem? Copyright law protects you from people
stealing your code and making unauthorized changes to it, and if
you're not worried about them making changes, there's no reason to
hide the source code (whatever you distribute would be just as
copiable). Are you concerned that people will see your bugs? We all
have them.

ChrisA