Dear Vincent and Dan, All points taken positively. I'm still learning Python and all this help and advice is making me write better and more pythonic code.
I will leave this path and continue on the one I started traversing. I thank you all very much. May you be well. On Tue, Aug 26, 2014 at 2:58 AM, Vincent Michel <vxgmic...@gmail.com> wrote: > I agree with Dan. > > Also, there're some great answers over here: > http://stackoverflow.com/questions/261638/how-do-i-protect-python-code > > For instance I like this one: > """ Since no technical method can stop your customers from reading > your code, you have to apply ordinary commercial methods. > 1 - Licenses. Contracts. Terms and Conditions. This still works even > when people can read the code. Note that some of your Python-based > components may require that you pay fees before you sell software > using those components. Also, some open-source licenses prohibit you > from concealing the source or origins of that component. > 2 - Offer significant value. If your stuff is so good -- at a price > that is hard to refuse -- there's no incentive to waste time and money > reverse engineering anything. Reverse engineering is expensive. Make > your product slightly less expensive. > 3 - Offer upgrades and enhancements that make any reverse engineering > a bad idea. When the next release breaks their reverse engineering, > there's no point. This can be carried to absurd extremes, but you > should offer new features that make the next release more valuable > than reverse engineering. > 4 - Offer customization at rates so attractive that they'd rather pay > you to build and support the enhancements. > [...] """ > > About py2exe, it is a really limited obfuscation cause it actually > just stores the .pyc byte code files in a .zip archive. It means that > you can unzip your .exe file and see what's inside, there's no > protection at all. Though, the python byte code files offer a basic > protection since you need to use some tools like uncompyle, pyretic or > pycdc. > > " I also clear the windows clipboard on every run of the main program > loop thus preventing the user from taking screen grabs with print > screen." > This seems so wrong man, what if the user is trying to copy/paste > anything while your program is running on the background? > > > 2014-08-25 23:06 GMT+02:00 Dan Uznanski <duznan...@gmail.com>: > > Why bother? The average user won't care, the skilled users will see > through > > your ruse like it's plastic wrap, and the ones who care but aren't that > good > > will just find out what the skilled users did on the internet. The only > > thing you do by adding obfuscation is make it a little bit more of a pain > > for others to modify and improve your program, and make it a lot more of > a > > pain for you to test your program. > > > > > > On Mon, Aug 25, 2014 at 4:04 PM, diliup gabadamudalige < > dili...@gmail.com> > > wrote: > >> > >> Thanks for the responses. > >> Firstly I am a bit amused that everybody assumes that I am writing some > >> kind of game. I never mentioned any game. Is it because of Pygame? :) :) > >> I am using Pygame as my graphic interface because it is easy to display > >> all graphics and music (with some MIDI) using Pygame. Incidentally I am > >> writing a music teaching software. > >> > >> I use maketrans with a code string and then XOR the result using another > >> string and then finally base64 it before writing it to disk. So all > files > >> look like -> CSVT121rI_OQt%BIc.@lm and even if someone duoble click or > >> change the file ext they can not open the file in anything other than a > text > >> file editor. > >> > >> If we keep the worst case scenarios out my majority users would be > average > >> computer users and I doubt somone taking the trouble to reverse engineer > >> this software which is absolutely unknown. Maybe they will do so if it > gets > >> world famous ( :-) ) but then I will hire a professional team to > encrypt it > >> or I will use a dongle protection. But right now I am trying to close > the > >> files from prying eyes. When compiled with py2exe all the py files are > >> strung together and one exe file is formed but all the assets remain in > the > >> folder with the same names inside the folder where the exe is. So > anyone can > >> simply copy the files and the text inside. But this way they have no > access > >> as the zip file is encrypted. If they crack that open then all the > files are > >> encrypted and the encrypted password is in another py file inside the > exe. > >> Isn't this some kind of protection against no protection at all? I also > >> clear the windows clipboard on every run of the main program loop thus > >> preventing the user from taking screen grabs with print screen., These > are > >> taking into account THE THE AVERAGE USER. > >> Considering the average user are the precautions I have taken fair? What > >> do you think? > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> On Mon, Aug 25, 2014 at 9:52 PM, Noel Garwick <noel.garw...@gmail.com> > >> wrote: > >>> > >>> Diliup, > >>> > >>> My understanding is that anything you load into memory can be dumped. > So > >>> if you're just using this to load all game assets at startup, people > could > >>> extract the assets by duping what the interpreter has loaded into > memory > >>> (the copies of the unencrypted files). > >>> > >>> > >>> On Mon, Aug 25, 2014 at 11:52 AM, Vincent Michel <vxgmic...@gmail.com> > >>> wrote: > >>>> > >>>> "the password is obfuscated and saved to a py file" > >>>> I'm curious about this part, how would you do that? > >>>> Do you plan to distribute only your byte code and hope that no one > will > >>>> reverse it? > >>>> > >>>> Also, why do you need a double encryption? If you want to prevent > people > >>>> from browsing your package to find the end screen or whatever, isn't > >>>> your first encryption enough? > >>>> > >>>> Anyway I think it's an interesting question, I mean, how important is > it > >>>> to obfuscate game data. > >>>> > >>>> Vincent > >>>> > >>>> On Mon, 2014-08-25 at 19:38 +0530, diliup gabadamudalige wrote: > >>>> > Having experimented with various methods to obfuscate image, audio > and > >>>> > text files, store them in a zip file pw protect and then retrieving > on > >>>> > demand I finally did this. > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > coder= a long string with a lot of characters ( written in a > separate > >>>> > py file) > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > strA = XOR(from_disk.read(), coder) > >>>> > str1 = XOR(strA,another_coder)) > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > encryption twice to obfuscate even more. > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > with open(code_to_dir, "wb") as to_disk: > >>>> > to_disk.write(str1) > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > then i used win rar to write these files to disk as a pw protected > zip > >>>> > file with store as the comp. method. > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > the password is obfuscated and saved to a py file > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > Retrieving the files from inside the zip file was the only hitch as > >>>> > the python extract routine took a long time. > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > this was solved by a great package at > >>>> > https://pypi.python.org/pypi/czipfile#downloads > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > retrieval time increase by nearly/more than/almost 200 %. > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > I would like to have your input on the above. > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > Diliup Gabadamudalige > >>>> > > >>>> > http://www.diliupg.com > >>>> > http://soft.diliupg.com/ > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > > ********************************************************************************************** > >>>> > This e-mail is confidential. It may also be legally privileged. If > you > >>>> > are not the intended recipient or have received it in error, please > >>>> > delete it and all copies from your system and notify the sender > >>>> > immediately by return e-mail. Any unauthorized reading, reproducing, > >>>> > printing or further dissemination of this e-mail or its contents is > >>>> > strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Internet communications > >>>> > cannot be guaranteed to be timely, secure, error or virus-free. The > >>>> > sender does not accept liability for any errors or omissions. > >>>> > > >>>> > > ********************************************************************************************** > >>>> > > >>>> > > >>>> > >>>> > >>> > >> > >> > >> > >> -- > >> Diliup Gabadamudalige > >> > >> http://www.diliupg.com > >> http://soft.diliupg.com/ > >> > >> > >> > ********************************************************************************************** > >> This e-mail is confidential. It may also be legally privileged. If you > are > >> not the intended recipient or have received it in error, please delete > it > >> and all copies from your system and notify the sender immediately by > return > >> e-mail. Any unauthorized reading, reproducing, printing or further > >> dissemination of this e-mail or its contents is strictly prohibited and > may > >> be unlawful. Internet communications cannot be guaranteed to be timely, > >> secure, error or virus-free. The sender does not accept liability for > any > >> errors or omissions. > >> > >> > ********************************************************************************************** > >> > > > -- Diliup Gabadamudalige http://www.diliupg.com http://soft.diliupg.com/ ********************************************************************************************** This e-mail is confidential. It may also be legally privileged. If you are not the intended recipient or have received it in error, please delete it and all copies from your system and notify the sender immediately by return e-mail. Any unauthorized reading, reproducing, printing or further dissemination of this e-mail or its contents is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. Internet communications cannot be guaranteed to be timely, secure, error or virus-free. The sender does not accept liability for any errors or omissions. **********************************************************************************************
