I'd like to look at the argument from other side for a moment:
Our company routinely provides MapBasic application development for
commercial customers. In some instances, we've written a MapBasic
utility to perform a simple task and then made that code available to
the larger community (GreatCircleRoutes and the InetLibrary are a
couple). When we provide application development for customers, we
always stipulate if and how the client will receive the source code.
Sometimes the source code remains the property of AnalyGIS, other times
it becomes the property of the client - in either case, it's always
clear who owns what.
Now when it comes to decompiling source code - I personally, have never
had to decompile anything. That's not to say I didn't spend hours and
hours looking for the last place I put source code to fix a bug or add a
feature to an existing MBX. The prospect of decompiling the MBX would
have been quite useful at about 21:30 when I wasn't sure where I last
put my "keys." Joe Bolian provides a useful service and he deserves due
credit for the service he provides - I'm sure many a programmer will be
forever indebted to him. I would argue that the capacity to recover my
own source would have saved a couple of hours of my life not to mention
a call to Joe the following day...
I would personally like to believe that for the most part - people are
basically good. There will always be a small minority who will seek to
gain from the efforts of others - but for the most part we know who
those people are and if asked to explain any part of their stolen source
code they would probably have a hard time understanding why "they" did
what they did and how all the pieces work together. The reality is that
the capability to decompile MapBasic code has been around for a while.
We've been lucky that the capability to decompile our applications has
been in capable and trusted hands (i.e. Stopwatch Maps). I would argue
that we've also been a bit naive as well.
Maybe the best way to approach this would be to build a MapBasic
obfuscator. This would be a really cool tool - although (with two
versions of the source code lying around, I would hope you always
remember which was the obfuscated code and which was the "real" code).
In some ways having a MapBasic decompiler lying around signals a "coming
of age" for the little language that could.... I just hope no one out
there is decompiling my code...
Ian Erickson
AnalyGIS, LLC
http:// www.analygis.com
See AnalyGIS at work:
http://65.39.85.13/google/
http://65.39.85.13/virtualearth/
Uffe Kousgaard wrote:
I can only agree with Bill Thoen 100%.
It should be the author of an MBX's choice if the source code is
supplied or not.
As developers we are already struggling with decompilers in the .NET
world, which makes it harder to protect our intellectual property. We
don't need another one accessible to everybody for mapbasic, even if
my personal investment in this area is much more limited.
Regards
Uffe Kousgaard
----- Original Message ----- From: "Bill Thoen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2006 5:00 PM
Subject: Re: [MI-L] MBX documentation
Speaking as a MapBasic developer who has a considerable investment in
MapBasic applications and has clients who have invested even more to
pay me to build applications for them, I see no real advantage to
releasing information to the public about how to decompile an MBX. If
you have lost your source, and can prove the MBX is yours, Joe Bolian
of Stopwatch Maps has offered to decompile it for you for free.
Outside of recovering lost source code I see no good reason to
empower any yahoo with a tool to open up my code like a can of beans.
It's not *that* easy to create a decompiler, and I wouldn't want to
see anyone who can't do it just given the information to make it easy
to steal my code and compromise my clients' investments. By giving
away the secrets you soften up the environment for anyone to build a
serious project based on MapBasic and will only bring about its end
that much quicker.
I think that MapBasic has at least a couple more years of useful
commercial life to it, and it is very likely that old MBX
applications will still run in the .NET environment for years beyond
that. Of course, if your goal is to destroy MapBasic as a tool to
build commercial applications, and force us all to move to more
advanced languages and techniques, then go for it. I would abandon
MapBasic pretty fast as a development tool if a decompiler was made
available to the public. And for those who can't move on to more
complicated and expensive software development solutions, you would
simply be exposing them to all sorts of abuse from theft of their
ideas up to and including loading a virus into thier MBXs.
What possible good would it do to make sorcerer's apprentices of
anyone whose heart has not been purifeid by the long quest to learn
the lore for themselves? ;-)
- Bill Thoen
Joutsiniemi Anssi wrote:
Since the MB doesn't seem to be that chic any longer, I thought
maybe I could
release my notes on MBX-file format as well. I know there is plenty of
delicate issues concerning the copyrights of compiled code and also
some
private money bound to it too. That is little strainge though, since
most of
us know that it is rather easy to built a decompiler and at least
three of
them exists too (search List Archive if you like). Also some more
valuable use can be thought for the documentation. For
example, currently the only compiler is the one that is provided by
the Corp.
and it significantly affects for third party development. Does
anybody there
across the ocean know where they are heading to? I naturally don't
want to
make enemy with them. I'm looking neither profit nor new jobs (since
I got
plenty) for this and consider this just as an act for creating new
potential
for more advanced usage.
I guess the tweaking other peoples code isn't that big of a thread,
since the
profound slowness of a MB code forces people truly developing
software to use
DLL's and stuff anyway. People capable of programming it from
documentation
most likelly wouldn't find any usefull from the tiny snippets of code
available anyway. I have never made a dime by selling program code,
but I
know some of you have, so basicly I'm interested to hear points of
view that
havent crossed my mind. If my initial idea of release is concidered
terribly
hostile or semi-criminal among you I'm happy to draw back this too.
Please, keep the discussion open in List, if possible.
Hard rock hallelujah
Anssi
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