I have been doing some Ruby on and off this year, so I am still a n00b.
My question is:
I create a ruby file, and now I want the source protected and
unreadable, how do I go about obfuscating my ruby file so that I can
distribute it as a non-open-source application?
I suppose, depending on your platform, script2exe might do the trick for
you. Question though: why are you trying to hide your source?
James H
On 7/17/06, Danno <dh.evolutionnext@gmail.com> wrote:
I have been doing some Ruby on and off this year, so I am still a n00b.
My question is:I create a ruby file, and now I want the source protected and
unreadable, how do I go about obfuscating my ruby file so that I can
distribute it as a non-open-source application?
Danno wrote:
I have been doing some Ruby on and off this year, so I am still a n00b.
My question is:I create a ruby file, and now I want the source protected and
unreadable, how do I go about obfuscating my ruby file so that I can
distribute it as a non-open-source application?
This was discussed on this mailing list not too long ago (and on numerous other occasions in the past). A search of the list archives should turn up various ideas and techniques to get you started.
--
James Britt
"I was born not knowing and have had only a little
time to change that here and there."
- Richard P. Feynman
You could use ZenObfuscator, by Ryan D, www.zenspider.com (its someewhere on
that site)
Or you could just obfuscate the pure ruby, by hand, althought someone can
still deobfuscate it.
j`ey
http://www.eachmapinject.com
On 7/17/06, James Herdman <james.herdman@gmail.com> wrote:
I suppose, depending on your platform, script2exe might do the trick for
you. Question though: why are you trying to hide your source?James H
On 7/17/06, Danno <dh.evolutionnext@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I have been doing some Ruby on and off this year, so I am still a n00b.
> My question is:
>
> I create a ruby file, and now I want the source protected and
> unreadable, how do I go about obfuscating my ruby file so that I can
> distribute it as a non-open-source application?
>
James Britt wrote:
Danno wrote:
> I have been doing some Ruby on and off this year, so I am still a n00b.
> My question is:
>
> I create a ruby file, and now I want the source protected and
> unreadable, how do I go about obfuscating my ruby file so that I can
> distribute it as a non-open-source application?
>This was discussed on this mailing list not too long ago (and on
numerous other occasions in the past). A search of the list archives
should turn up various ideas and techniques to get you started.
I did, all I found were jokes about how ruby is already obfuscated, and
many different ways of saying 'no', and that was back in 2004. I don't
know if that's the answer I want to leave with. Care to be a little
more helpful and point me in the right direction?
We did a Ruby Quiz a while back that might offer ideas:
http://www.rubyquiz.com/quiz34.html
It's important to remember how easily the determined person will get past this though.
James Edward Gray II
On Jul 17, 2006, at 10:10 AM, Danno wrote:
James Britt wrote:
Danno wrote:
I have been doing some Ruby on and off this year, so I am still a n00b.
My question is:I create a ruby file, and now I want the source protected and
unreadable, how do I go about obfuscating my ruby file so that I can
distribute it as a non-open-source application?This was discussed on this mailing list not too long ago (and on
numerous other occasions in the past). A search of the list archives
should turn up various ideas and techniques to get you started.I did, all I found were jokes about how ruby is already obfuscated, and
many different ways of saying 'no', and that was back in 2004. I don't
know if that's the answer I want to leave with. Care to be a little
more helpful and point me in the right direction?
James Britt wrote:
Danno wrote:
> I have been doing some Ruby on and off this year, so I am still a n00b.
> My question is:
>
> I create a ruby file, and now I want the source protected and
> unreadable, how do I go about obfuscating my ruby file so that I can
> distribute it as a non-open-source application?
>This was discussed on this mailing list not too long ago (and on
numerous other occasions in the past). A search of the list archives
should turn up various ideas and techniques to get you started.I did, all I found were jokes about how ruby is already obfuscated, and
many different ways of saying 'no', and that was back in 2004. I don't
know if that's the answer I want to leave with. Care to be a little
more helpful and point me in the right direction?
Had you seen the ZenObfuscate post?
http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-talk/196955
It's a commercial offering and does have a Known Limitations
paragraph that's worth noting.
I'm still trying to sort out how to ship my own commercial
ruby software. Frankly, if it were possible to ship a game
open source and get paid for it, that would be my preferred
route.
My plan is to do the next best thing, and use the release
model pioneered by id Software. Initially, parts of the
game are open source, and the core engine is closed source.
Eventually, the entire game is open sourced (usually coinciding with the release of the next game in the series.)
So that puts me back in square 1. How to close parts of
my ruby source, even if for a limited time.
I'm considering ZenObfuscate, but the limitations listed
seemed more severe than I would have hoped.
I may go with some embedded decryption key solution and
hope for the best.... :-}
(Or, since my application is a mix of C and ruby, just
leave the ruby parts open from the beginning.)
Sorry I can't offer much in the way of concrete solutions.
But I'm going to have to come up with something eventually,
myself...
Regards,
Bill
From: "Danno" <dh.evolutionnext@gmail.com>
Danno wrote:
James Britt wrote:
Danno wrote:
I have been doing some Ruby on and off this year, so I am still a n00b.
My question is:I create a ruby file, and now I want the source protected and
unreadable, how do I go about obfuscating my ruby file so that I can
distribute it as a non-open-source application?This was discussed on this mailing list not too long ago (and on
numerous other occasions in the past). A search of the list archives
should turn up various ideas and techniques to get you started.I did, all I found were jokes about how ruby is already obfuscated, and
many different ways of saying 'no', and that was back in 2004.
Weird; seems the word "obfuscate" didn't really figure into the discussions about obfuscating source code. My apologies.
Searching on "hiding" or "protecting" source code was a little better.
This may be useful: ANN: ZenObfuscate - for when you really really have to ship - Ruby - Ruby-Forum
Generally someone asks how they can compile Ruby code into some binary form to hide the source, and the answer is, you really can't, not in any secure manner.
Wish I had better links.
My search-fu has failed me. 
--
James Britt
http://web2.0validator.com - We're the Dot in Web 2.0
http://refreshingcities.org - Design, technology, usability
http://yourelevatorpitch.com - Finding Business Focus
http://www.jamesbritt.com - Playing with Better Toys
James Edward Gray II wrote:
>
> James Britt wrote:
>> Danno wrote:
>>> I have been doing some Ruby on and off this year, so I am still a
>>> n00b.
>>> My question is:
>>>
>>> I create a ruby file, and now I want the source protected and
>>> unreadable, how do I go about obfuscating my ruby file so that I can
>>> distribute it as a non-open-source application?
>>>
>>
>> This was discussed on this mailing list not too long ago (and on
>> numerous other occasions in the past). A search of the list archives
>> should turn up various ideas and techniques to get you started.
>>
>
> I did, all I found were jokes about how ruby is already obfuscated,
> and
> many different ways of saying 'no', and that was back in 2004. I don't
> know if that's the answer I want to leave with. Care to be a little
> more helpful and point me in the right direction?We did a Ruby Quiz a while back that might offer ideas:
It's important to remember how easily the determined person will get
past this though.
I'll agree with that. Thanks.
On Jul 17, 2006, at 10:10 AM, Danno wrote:
James Edward Gray II
Have you seen Ruby2CExtension (http://ruby2cext.rubyforge.org/\) ?
Obfuscation isn't its main goal but it can be used to obfuscate Ruby code just fine. And (judging from the ZenObfuscate announcement) it has less limitations than ZenObfuscate, it can for example translate itself to a C extension.
I hope that helps,
Dominik
On Mon, 17 Jul 2006 20:45:55 +0200, Bill Kelly <billk@cts.com> wrote:
From: "Danno" <dh.evolutionnext@gmail.com>
James Britt wrote:
Danno wrote:
> I have been doing some Ruby on and off this year, so I am still a n00b.
> My question is:
>
> I create a ruby file, and now I want the source protected and
> unreadable, how do I go about obfuscating my ruby file so that I can
> distribute it as a non-open-source application?
>This was discussed on this mailing list not too long ago (and on
numerous other occasions in the past). A search of the list archives
should turn up various ideas and techniques to get you started.I did, all I found were jokes about how ruby is already obfuscated, and
many different ways of saying 'no', and that was back in 2004. I don't
know if that's the answer I want to leave with. Care to be a little
more helpful and point me in the right direction?Had you seen the ZenObfuscate post?
http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-talk/196955It's a commercial offering and does have a Known Limitations
paragraph that's worth noting.
James Britt wrote:
Danno wrote:
> James Britt wrote:
>
>>Danno wrote:
>>
>>>I have been doing some Ruby on and off this year, so I am still a n00b.
>>> My question is:
>>>
>>>I create a ruby file, and now I want the source protected and
>>>unreadable, how do I go about obfuscating my ruby file so that I can
>>>distribute it as a non-open-source application?
>>>
>>
>>This was discussed on this mailing list not too long ago (and on
>>numerous other occasions in the past). A search of the list archives
>>should turn up various ideas and techniques to get you started.
>>
>
>
> I did, all I found were jokes about how ruby is already obfuscated, and
> many different ways of saying 'no', and that was back in 2004.Weird; seems the word "obfuscate" didn't really figure into the
discussions about obfuscating source code. My apologies.Searching on "hiding" or "protecting" source code was a little better.
This may be useful: ANN: ZenObfuscate - for when you really really have to ship - Ruby - Ruby-Forum
Generally someone asks how they can compile Ruby code into some binary
form to hide the source, and the answer is, you really can't, not in any
secure manner.Wish I had better links.
My search-fu has failed me.
--
James Britthttp://web2.0validator.com - We're the Dot in Web 2.0
http://refreshingcities.org - Design, technology, usability
http://yourelevatorpitch.com - Finding Business Focus
http://www.jamesbritt.com - Playing with Better Toys
Here's the link to a thread I started on this topic a couple of years
ago. As I recall, it was a very good treatment of the possibilities.
Enjoy!
Have you already taken a look at the Street Performer Protocol[1]?
It's a way to do exactly that, and it's not restricted to games.
That article is a bit old, but AFAIK there have been some succesful
implementations. Fundable.org[2] is a site that allows you to release
something under this model.
[1]http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue4_6/kelsey/
[2]http://www.fundable.org/
On 7/17/06, Bill Kelly <billk@cts.com> wrote:
I'm still trying to sort out how to ship my own commercial
ruby software. Frankly, if it were possible to ship a game
open source and get paid for it, that would be my preferred
route.
--
Bira
Have you seen Ruby2CExtension (http://ruby2cext.rubyforge.org/\) ?
Obfuscation isn't its main goal but it can be used to obfuscate Ruby code just fine.
Nice !!!
Wow, very cool.
Thanks,
Bill
From: "Dominik Bathon" <dbatml@gmx.de>
So can ZenObfuscate.
On Jul 17, 2006, at 1:03 PM, Dominik Bathon wrote:
Obfuscation isn't its main goal but it can be used to obfuscate Ruby code just fine. And (judging from the ZenObfuscate announcement) it has less limitations than ZenObfuscate, it can for example translate itself to a C extension.