[support] phc obfuscate / drupal 7

[Larry Garfield]

The last I heard, HipHop doesn't work with Drupal because Drupal uses 
parts of PHP that HipHop doesn't support.  Really, HH is not a general 
solution for PHP performance tuning.  You have to write code with HH in 
mind for it to be effective, which Facebook did when creating HH.

As far as "protecting" source code, the GPL license basically says you 
can't do that; or rather, it's worthless to do so because anyone you 
distribute the code to is legally entitled to the un-obfuscated source 
code as well.  That includes any custom modules you write.  Note that 
only triggers if you distribute the code to someone else; putting code 
on a web server does not count as distribution (AFAIK), so the host is 
not legally entitled to do anything with your code other than host it.

That said, if your business model for your site relies on some 
non-trivial set of modules remaining forever-secret, then your business 
model is already buggered and you need to find a new one.  Really, the 
investment in working with the community rather than building a lot of 
custom code that you have to maintain is worth far more than your custom 
code.  That will be especially true then next time you decide to do a 
major version upgrade, where you'll find yourself with a lot of custom 
code that only you can possibly upgrade and no one willing to help you 
in the slightest.  That is a bad bad place to be.

--Larry Garfield

On 12/25/2012 05:38 PM, Austin Einter wrote:
> Thanks a lot all.
>
> I know Drupal is open source, I wanted to protect only the custom 
> modules developed. I learnt from this discussion that -
>
> 1. Take a dedicated m/c, so root access is with me. That gives some 
> protection.
> 2. Will go for a trusted / reputed web hosting company.
>
> On a side note, I read somewhere a separate branch is maintained for 
> Drupal code base (probably 7.4) that is compatible with hihop use., 
> Can somebody give more information in this regard such as is it 
> maintained and available for latest Drupal 7 releases..
>
> Thanks and Regards
> Austin
>
>
>
> On Tue, Dec 25, 2012 at 10:12 PM, Richard Damon 
> <Richard at damon-family.org <mailto:Richard at damon-family.org>> wrote:
>
>     On 12/25/12 10:49 AM, Jarry wrote:
>     > On 25-Dec-12 16:26, Austin Einter wrote:
>     >> I am worried for few things.  Lets say I will be taking a dedicated
>     >> server say from rackspace or doster or godady and host my site as a
>     >> commercial one.
>     >>
>     >> I would not doubt the companies like rackspace or godady ..., but
>     >> difficult to believe admin engineers who may take the source
>     code and
>     >> give it to somebody else for few dollars..,
>     > Source code of what? Drupal or some modules? Drupal is GPL-ed,
>     > so anybody can have it. Or your own drupal-module? I'm not sure
>     > but I think if you develop something for Drupal, you have to
>     > distribute it under the same license at no charge. So which
>     > php-code you want to obfuscate and why?
>     >
>     > Jarry
>     > ---
>     >
>     The GPL means that *IF* you distribute the results, you need to
>     provide
>     the source, but there is no requirement to publish source if you
>     do not
>     distribute your "product" (i.e. for your own use). This is good, as it
>     means you are not required to publish your settings.php file with your
>     database passwords!
>
>     This does mean that if you produce as a product a Drupal module, (I
>     believe) you can not just distribute it as a protected file, you
>     need to
>     provide the source for it, but this is only if you distribute it.
>
>     --
>     Richard Damon
>
>     --
>     [ Drupal support list | http://lists.drupal.org/ ]
>
>
>
>

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