Needs Improvement

Don't distribute source in executables!

Riona is studying for her CFA level II exams, and since my typing is very loud and distracting, I'm working on my PowerBook in our bedroom. I've got Mono, The Chemical Brothers' Singles 93-03 and Push the Button, some tea, and a pillow. Everything's great. Except that most of the source code that I wanted to look at tonight is distributed in executables.

I wanted to look at Community Server in particular. I had to tell them what I'm doing with the software, give them my email address, wait for them to mail me the URL, download an executable, execute it, install the software somewhere on disk, and make sure I won't have to uninstall it from Add/Remove Programs or delete its shortcuts from the Start menu, all before I could look at the source. Of course, everything from "execute it" on failed since I'm using a PowerBook, so it was all a waste of time.

I've seen hundreds of examples of documents, samples, and source distributed in installers or self-extracting executables. Are there really that many people who want this stuff but don't have decompression tools? Is showing a license that third time (once on the web site, once in the installer, once in the source) going to deter someone who wants to violate it? Why make people jump through hoops? What the hell is the point?

If you're going to distribute source, don't distribute it in executables, or at least distribute it platform-independent archive formats first!

Hell.

Colin

08:46 PM | Colin