Greetings.
Ever since I heard about open-source source software, I had a question as to how can a piece of software remain completely discreet in its internal functioning even while being present on a computer?
In simple words, all the files of the software are present on the computer, so why can’t the source-code of it be *extracted* in some way?
If that is not possible, then how come crackers/patchers *crack* a software to function without a license? (Because I reckon they would need access to the code in order to modify its functioning.)
Thanks in advance.
In: Technology
In the same way that if you buy a cake, you can’t extract the original recipe from it.
When you buy a piece of software (or technically, a license for it), you’re not getting the source code. You’re getting the software that was built from the source code, kind of similar to how a cake is baked. The recipe isn’t inside the cake, and the source code isn’t inside the software. The source code is just a set of instructions for creating the software. Those instructions were executed on the developer’s computer, which created the program. The instructions never left that computer, just like the recipe never left the bakery.
You can certainly make guesses about the recipe, and with enough work you might be able to recreate *a* recipe which creates a very similar cake. But you can’t get the original recipe just from cutting open the cake.
Latest Answers