It’s been in my mind if we are using the software/program or even hardware of a tech company, we can play around, install-unsinstall and more. Then how is it so difficult for someone to “unhide” the source code that the device uses? Technically the code is in the device somewhere hidden in it, so it’s there, but still, it’s almost impossible to obtain the source code. How do they achieve this so no one copies their code?
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You have a lot of explanations of how the compiled binaries are one way or another difficult for humans to read but I would argue that is of lesser concern. In the end, most code is going to be boilerplate and only a tiny part represents the algorithms you might want to steal or the DRM components if you want to copy and redistribute the program.
Indeed we see this, piracy is essentially people reverse engineering the DRM components and copying the program for redistribution without effective DRM. The same is the case for high value algorithms. They can be reverse engineered if they are valuable enough.
The primary reason in the end is perhaps disappointingly simple. It is illegal. And it’s hard enough that the average user can’t do it by themselves. So either it doesn’t get done or someone places themelves under significant risk by committing a crime and then distributing the goods.
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