Question(s)

[avi.e.gross at gmail.com]

I am replying to this which is heading into another topic:

"(Tongue in cheek) Except doesn't one make more $$$$ when software in
hidden in an unreadable state? (That forces the user to go back to the
original dev or group - - yes?)"

Like some of us, I come from a time when much software was compiled. Sure, you could play interactively with the BASIC interpreter, but much else could be delivered to you as an executable and it was not easy to know what it did without trying it and certainly it was not easy to make changes to it and resell it as your own.

Where does python fit in?

On the one hand, it is completely visible as the software and modules you use tend to be stored on the machine being used in a readable state. If you come up with some nifty algorithm, it is there for anyone to see and copy or even alter if they have permissions. You can freely search a corpus of code to pick up interesting tidbits and that can be a plus but if your livelihood is based on selling your code or services, ...

So do some people do things to make that harder? Can you deliver only files already converted to bytecode, for example? Could you have an interpreter that has special changes such as being able to take encrypted code and decrypt before using or perhaps have read privileges that normal users will not have?

Obviously if your code is on a server that users can only access indirectly and in a controlled manner, this is not as much of an issue. 

I will skip the anecdotes, but point out how sometimes compiled code may have a whole bunch of other problems, including when a user can sneak in your office and modify the source code behind your back or when a virus can insert itself.

So to return to the main point, not that I am selling anything, what do developers using Python do to try to make sure they get properly paid and others do not just use their work without permission?

-----Original Message-----
From: o1bigtenor <o1bigtenor at gmail.com> 
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2023 6:59 AM
To: avi.e.gross at gmail.com
Cc: Chris Angelico <rosuav at gmail.com>; python-list at python.org
Subject: Re: Question(s)

On Tue, Oct 24, 2023 at 9:36 PM AVI GROSS via Python-list
<python-list at python.org> wrote:
>
> Agreed, Chris. There are many methods way better than the sort of RAID
> architecture I supplied as AN EXAMPLE easy to understand. But even so, if a
> hard disk or memory chip is fried or a nuclear bomb takes out all servers in
> or near a city, you would need  some truly crazy architectures with info not
> only distributed across the globe but perhaps also to various space
> satellites or servers kept ever further out and eventually in hyperspace or
> within a black hole (might be write-only, alas).
>
> The point many of us keep saying is there can not easily or even with great
> difficult, any perfect scheme that guarantees nothing will go wrong with the
> software, hardware, the people using it and so on. And in the real world, as
> compared to the reel world, many programs cannot remain static. Picture a
> program that includes many tax laws and implementations that has to be
> changed at least yearly as laws change. Some near-perfect code now has to
> either be patched with lots of errors possible, or redesigned from scratch
> and if it takes long enough, will come out after yet more changes and thus
> be wrong.
>
> A decent question you can ask is if the language this forum is supposed to
> be on, is better in some ways to provide the kind of Teflon-coated code he
> wants. Are there features better avoided? How do you make sure updates to
> modules you use and trust are managed as they may break your code. Stuff
> like that is not as abstract.

The above are very interesting questions - - - - anyone care to tackle
one, or some?
>
> In my view, one consideration can be that when people can examine your
> source code in the original language, that can open up ways others might
> find ways to break it, more so than a compiled program that you only can
> read in a more opaque way.
>
(Tongue in cheek) Except doesn't one make more $$$$ when software in
hidden in an unreadable state? (That forces the user to go back to the
original dev or group - - yes?)

TIA