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From: acm@bu-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: alt.flame
Subject: Re: Software Engineering 501 (Was: Re: Smalltalk/V Decompiler)
Message-ID: <15252@bu-cs.BU.EDU>
Date: Sun, 1-Nov-87 16:49:42 EST
Article-I.D.: bu-cs.15252
Posted: Sun Nov  1 16:49:42 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 3-Nov-87 01:04:32 EST
References: <2490@mmintl.UUCP> <57@ateng.UUCP> <1892@killer.UUCP> <1004@phoenix.Princeton.EDU>
Reply-To: madd@bucsb.bu.edu
Followup-To: madd@bucsb.bu.edu
Organization: Boston University ACM
Lines: 28

I'm not including the original article and followups because you can
just go look if you like.

I don't recall that Frank Adams (franka@mmintl) said that he
disassembled the program in order to create the decompiler.

It is not exactly difficult to run YOUR source code through THEIR
compiler to see what it makes, disassemble YOUR object code, and
figure out how THEIR program works without ever putting THEIR program
into a debugger.  No copyright infringement yet the decompiler still
runs.  Of course if Smalltalk optimizes then things get tougher.

So, it's possible to create such a beast without violating the
copyright, unless of course the copyright notice applies to everything
run through the program, too, which is unlikely as hell since it sort
of makes it compiler useless as a development tool.

An aside from the topic at hand:

>"I don't want to rule the world"

"I'm not looking for a new England
 Just looking for a pretty girl."

(Billy Bragg is the greatest :-)

jim frost
madd@bucsb.bu.edu