Actually, Ilan has a point here.I think your points are irrelevant. To show you just how much so, I'm going to answer Ilan's original question technically.
1. His salesmanship skills could use a small upgrade - by presenting the argument of avoiding MS-Windows in the first place, he'd get more cooperation than flames.
2. If Linus allows use of closed code Kernel modules with Linux and they probably are obfuscation champions of the Linux world, then Ilan should be entitled to ask about the subject.
3. And, as Ilan said, the Linux-IL mailing list is Linux-IL, not GNU-IL
(or GPL-IL), RMS's insistence upon the term GNU/Linux withstanding.
There is no standard tool for Linux that performs code obfuscation that I am aware of. As a matter of fact, there is no standard tool for Windows that performs code obfuscation that I'm aware of either. This is a direct result of a point raised previously - you cannot perform general purpose obfuscation - it just can't be done.
Now, your boss may be aware of such tools for windows. This has either one of two possible explanations. Either there are tools with such pretense for Windows, or he is talking about copy protection wrappers.
If the first is the case, please let me know what those tools are - I'm actually pretty interested to see them. I may even change my mind about them - who knows.
If the second is the case, your boss has a solid plan that will waste you money without gaining you anything. Copy protection tools will not make reverse engineering of your code more difficult by any significant amount. It's just not what their there for.
Now, you may claim that copy protection tools have very extensive obfuscation mechanisms. That is true, but unhelpful. The only thing that these obfuscation mechanisms are meant to prevent is people understanding the copy protection stuff. Getting the binary output of the compiler of a copy protected encrypted binary is about an half hour work for a skilled hacker with SoftICE and IDA Pro. This may not allow a hacker to remove the copy protection, but it will peel off the obfuscation of your algorithms.
As a result, most people who want to obfuscate their own code (copy protection companies included), roll their own obfuscation techniques, built straight into the code itself. These techniques are no different for Linux and for Windows, as there is no difference in CPU or dynamic loader mechanisms between the environments. As such, your claim that it can be easilly done on Windows seems suspect to me.
On the other hand, if all your boss wants is the warm fuzzy feeling that noone else can use your algorithms, get a patent on them. Wait - you have!
Shachar
-- Shachar Shemesh Open Source integration consultant Home page & resume - http://www.shemesh.biz/
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