Re: Re: perl2exe - no more secrets

[herveus]

in reply to Re: perl2exe - no more secrets
in thread perl2exe - no more secrets

Howdy!

Regarding your second point: PAR's zipping of files is not presented as anything other than packing several files together in a single file for convenience in delivery. It is not held out as meant for hiding anything. Using XOR (so-called) encryption only serves to obscure the source. It is a weak attempt at source code encryption, having nothing at all to do with bundling files together into a single distribution file.

I think that that distinction is central to the "problem".

yours,
Michael

[Jenda]

Neither "XOR" nor "encryption" may be found in the perl2exe docs. It's just something you may find out while trying to break into the EXE. You are right that PAR is more clear about what is it doing, perl2exe doesn't say pretty much anything about what it does.

IndigoStar says: "Perl2Exe is a command line utility for converting Perl scripts to executable files.
This allows you to create stand alone programs in perl that do not require the perl interpreter. You can also ship the executable file without having to ship your perl source code." They do not even mention "compilation" on the page. (They do use the word a few times in the docs though.)

IMO they did not mean the XOR as a means of real encryption, but just to prevent the text to be seen in the EXE and found by normal "Find in Files". Just a means to prevent the code from people that would have no use for it anyway.

Jenda

[kelan]

But when they say "You can also ship the executable file without having to ship your perl source code.", doesn't that sound a lot like "Hey, no one will be able to get at your source!"? It sure seems as if they're trying, at least, to imply that your source will be safe.

kelan

---

Perl6 Grammar Student

[Jenda]

I guess this depends on where do you come from and what do you look for. I guess if you search for something that would hide your source code you can understand the sentence like that. I don't see the meaning there unless I try a lot, but some people might.

Jenda

[herveus]

Howdy!

All the same, for better or worse, whether deliberate or not, PAR is quite a bit more transparent in what and how it is doing what it does. IndigoStar is not being as clear as they could be in exactly what they are and are not claiming perl2exe actually does.

I'll grant that this particular horse may well be dead by now. The twitch just seen may have been a simple response of an object to being kicked.

yours,
Michael