Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!emory!att!cbnewsl!davel
From: davel@cbnewsl.att.com (David Loewenstern)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.c
Subject: Re: C obfuscator
Message-ID: <1990Jun1.183943.16881@cbnewsl.att.com>
Date: 1 Jun 90 18:39:43 GMT
References: <12546@netcom.UUCP> <220@taumet.COM> <12573@netcom.UUCP> <4342@muffin.cme.nist.gov>
Distribution: comp
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Whippany, NJ
Lines: 44
Cc: fish@kzin.utah.edu, davel@whutt.att.com

In article <4342@muffin.cme.nist.gov>, libes@cme.nist.gov (Don Libes) writes:
> In article <12573@netcom.UUCP> ergo@netcom.UUCP (Isaac Rabinovitch) writes:
> >steve@taumet.COM (Stephen Clamage) writes:
> >>Well, "honi soit qui mal y pense", to you.  There are plenty of
> >>legitimate reasons for obfuscating code.  Why do you assume Mr Loewenstern
> >>has only evil intentions?  Surely you don't have to jump all over him
> >>until you find out.
> >
> >Such as?
> 
> ... a useful way to distribute commercial products for multiple
> platforms.  Instead of dozens of binaries, just distribute one source
> and let the buyer compile.
> 
> For example, page 18 of this month's C Users Journal has an
> advertisement for a lint that comes in "shrouded source form" that is
> K&R and ANSI compatible, and which compiles on UNIX, DOS, VMS, VM/MVS,
> and several other operating systems.  The vendor has covered 99% of
> the market with a single distribution.
> 
> Not only is this clever, but certain #defines can be left unshrouded
> so that you have a little more control than if you just had binaries.
> 
> Incidentally, this practice has been around for years.
> 
> Don Libes          libes@cme.nist.gov      ...!uunet!cme-durer!libes

Thank you for sticking up for me, Don.  Since I don't normally read this
newsgroup, I did not realize the microfuror that I had started.

I can, however, add another use:  porting proprietary or otherwise
restricted source code to a test platform which is accessable by 
outsiders.  So there. 8^)

By the way, Russ Fish <fish@kzin.utah.edu> has been kind enough to send
me his version of a C obfuscator.  It is somewhat restricted but 
does satisfy my requirements, and I have used it successfully (thanks,
Russ).

David Loewenstern
<davel@whutt.att.com>
AT&T Bell Laboratories
14B-253
Whippany, NJ 07981