Re: Command line tools from PEF?
Re: Command line tools from PEF?
- Subject: Re: Command line tools from PEF?
- From: Charlton Wilbur <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 8 Sep 2005 15:56:41 -0400
On Sep 8, 2005, at 1:27 PM, Daniel R. Killoran,Ph.D. wrote:
On Sep 7, 2005, at 3:46 PM, Theodore H. Smith wrote:
I'm in the unenviable position of having an awkward requirement
made from me by the boss. They have this app that "injects"
security code into an app, for copy protection. "Injection"
basically means the some tool mucks about with the PEF internals
of a compiled app, and inserts code that wasn't compiled in.
Which I think is detestable. It's bad practice, and a pain to use.
But what can I do if the company is requiring this from me?
I really think it is your professional responsibility to warn them
that this is "not maintainable" and will substantially add to the
total lif-cost of the product, especially if they actually are
intending to provide any tech support. Remember the "3 M's" - Money
Matters to Managers"!
What you can do is make a clear, supported statement in writing about
the objective problems with the requirement and something you think
should be done instead to solve the problem the requirement is there
to fulfill. It's even better if you can provide two or more
alternative approaches that both solve the problem. If the
requirement is in place to solve a particular problem, a competent
manager will be open to suggestions for other, better ways to solve
that problem.
On the other hand, requirements are not always in place solely for
technical reasons. You might find out that the requirement is in
place because the boss's nephew suggested it, and the boss thinks his
nephew is incapable of being wrong. You might find out that the boss
prefers this method because he thinks he understands it, and your
proposed alternatives are too strange and scary for your boss to
approve them. Or you might find out that the largest customers are
content with PEF code injection as a means of copy protection but
object strenuously to other means of copy protection, while managers
object strenuously to a lack of copy protection.
From your point of view, this is detestable, bad practice, and a
pain to use. Given what you say of it, I'm inclined to think you're
right. But there are probably other factors you're not seeing,
though, and there may be some actual or perceived benefit from this
approach that makes the additional hassle worth it.
(My own view on it is that copy protection and registration schemes
ought to be a nudge to honest users who intend to register but need a
reminder -- anything more than that and you invest a lot more effort
than you get back in sales and license fees.)
Charlton
--
Charlton Wilbur
email@hidden
email@hidden
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