From: Francis Cianfrocca <garbagecat10@...>
Date: 2006-11-18T00:11:44+09:00
Subject: Re: Protecting commercial ruby source code

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On 11/17/06, Brad Tilley <rtilley@vt.edu> wrote:
>
> > Hiren Bridgmohun wrote:
>
> > Is there a way to obfuscate my ruby source code. I have come across
> ZenObfuscate which at > about $2500. Does anyone know of any other options
> to
> protect ruby source code when it is > distributed to clients?
>
>
> This question comes up a lot. Can you make it a web-based application so
> that
> the code is never distributed? IMO, that's the only real way to deal with
> this.
>
> There really is no 100% way in which to obfuscate code. You can raise the
> bar of
> course, but if a determined client who is technically minded gets the
> code, they
> can undo any obfuscation you've done. Personally, I think it's a bad idea
> and if
> you're having to ask the question, then something is fundamentally wrong
> with
> your business model.
>
>

Agree completely on the point about not being able to obfuscate code 100%.
Hosting software yourself solves a lot of interesting problems (including
some OSS licensing issues) but opens a different set of potential problems:
1) some clients are not comfortable unless they host private data
themselves; 2) some clients have legal constraints requiring them to host
themselves; 3) you might become a target for government action if you're
hosting any kind of data on behalf of a client.

I think it's too broad to say that there are fundamental problems with *any*
business model that benefits from code obfuscation, but it's definitely true
that software in Ruby is going to be wide open and easily visible to users,
compared to some other languages. And that will be a disadvantage for some
people.

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