There are a few quake mods out there that are "closed" source. FvF, CAx, CRMod- to name a few. I thought I'd take a look into how they prevent decompilation by looking into the source code for compilers (frikqcc, qccx), but it turns out the decompiling code is not actually included in the source code for these... That is, the binaries you can download (.exe programs) can decompile a simple progs.dat into human-readable code, but if you use the released source code to build your own .exe, that particular .exe cannot decompile any progs.dat.
This situation really piques my interest, and I might have to make my own decompiler from scratch, but I'm wondering what the ramifications of this would be. Someone(s) already decided that a decompiler out in the wild would be bad news, and I'm not sure how to continue, in terms of philosophically. Should code be free, or are there reasons to protect closed source mods?
I don't really have free time until the semester ends next month, so there's not a big hurry at the moment. I'd like to hear some opposing viewpoints before I dig in.
This situation really piques my interest, and I might have to make my own decompiler from scratch, but I'm wondering what the ramifications of this would be. Someone(s) already decided that a decompiler out in the wild would be bad news, and I'm not sure how to continue, in terms of philosophically. Should code be free, or are there reasons to protect closed source mods?
I don't really have free time until the semester ends next month, so there's not a big hurry at the moment. I'd like to hear some opposing viewpoints before I dig in.
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