Python Portability--Not very portable?
in [Python]
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From: Steven D'Aprano on 6 Aug 2010 18:31 On Fri, 06 Aug 2010 10:35:38 -0700, W. eWatson wrote: > So you think Python is part of open software in terms of distributing a > "product"? Python itself *is* open source software. It doesn't *require* you to write open source software. > So I should stick to C, where one can distribute programs w/o > revealing code details No you can't. That's the point that you are missing. When you ship a compiled exe, you are still shipping code, and anyone serious about "ripping off" your ideas will not find that even the tiniest barrier to doing so. Microsoft never ship their code to Windows, and yet virus and malware authors regularly and rapidly analyse it well enough to not only work out what it does and how it does it, but to discover vulnerabilities that even Microsoft don't know about. If MS can't protect their code, what makes you think your .exe file is going to any better protected? -- Steven
From: Steven D'Aprano on 6 Aug 2010 18:46 On Thu, 05 Aug 2010 18:50:14 -0700, W. eWatson wrote: > As an example, my inexperienced Python partner 30 miles away has gotten > out of step somehow. I think by installing a different version of numpy > than I use. I gave him a program we both use months ago, and he had no > trouble. (We both use IDLE on 2.5). I made a one character change to it > and sent him the new py file. He can't execute it. I doubt he has > changed anything in the intervening period. What does that mean? It crashes? It raises an exception? He double-clicks on it and nothing happens? What error does he get? What was the one character change? Have you tested it and are you sure it works, or are you just assuming it works? What OS are you using? How did you send it to him? Can he open the file in a text editor, and what does he see? > A further example. Months ago I decided to see if I could compile a > program to avoid such problems as above. I planned to satisfy that need, > and see if I could distribute some simple programs to non-Python > friends. I pretty well understand the idea,and got it working with a > small program. It seemed like a lot of manual labor to do it. I'm sorry, I don't fully understand what you think this is going to accomplish. A program compiled to object code is going to be dependent on the hardware platform, the operating system, and any libraries that may or may not be installed. Most likely the *exact* version of the libraries. Do the words "DLL Hell" mean anything to you? How is that an advantage of Python's source-code distribution? -- Steven
From: Steven D'Aprano on 6 Aug 2010 18:47 On Fri, 06 Aug 2010 10:58:24 -0700, W. eWatson wrote: > Is there a complete illustration of using disutils? Our only > dependencies are on Python Org material. We use no commercial or > licensed code. Oh my, the sheer ignorance that sentence reveals. Python and the standard library *is* licensed. I mean, good grief, when you start up Python's interpreter, it even says: Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information. Similarly any C compiler you use will also be licensed. If it's not, you have no right to use it! (Unless you can find a public domain compiler, which I doubt exists, and even if one does, I doubt it will be very good.) -- Steven
From: Martin v. Loewis on 7 Aug 2010 16:00 > As an example, my inexperienced Python partner 30 miles away has gotten > out of step somehow. I think by installing a different version of numpy > than I use. I gave him a program we both use months ago, and he had no > trouble. (We both use IDLE on 2.5). I made a one character change to it > and sent him the new py file. He can't execute it. I doubt he has > changed anything in the intervening period. You'll find that many people will be very skeptical wrt. this story: this kind of thing really isn't supposed to happen, and it's difficult to believe that it failed just because of the one-character change. You already said that that the change was adding a minus sign somewhere. Can you now kindly also report what then the problem was that your partner encountered (specific error message would be appreciated). > A further example. Months ago I decided to see if I could compile a > program to avoid such problems as above. I planned to satisfy that need, > and see if I could distribute some simple programs to non-Python > friends. I pretty well understand the idea,and got it working with a > small program. It seemed like a lot of manual labor to do it. It's a lot of manual labor only the first time. When you package the next version of the same software, manual labor should be minimal. Regards, Martin
From: Ben Finney on 7 Aug 2010 19:43
"W. eWatson" <wolftracks(a)invalid.com> writes: > Yes, code reversal programs have been around for many, many decades. > Try one on MS Word or Adobe Acrobat. :-) Interesting examples. What “important stuff” from those programs has not been “ripped off”, to use your terms? Is there anything remaining in those programs which others would find sufficiently valuable that has *not* been “ripped off”? -- \ “If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; | `\ but if you really make them think, they'll hate you.” —Donald | _o__) Robert Perry Marquis | Ben Finney |