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Closed-source developer forced open-source

Posted by Paul Mather on November 11, 2010 at 7:30am
For those who are just now joining this thread already in progress... I recently learned how easy it is to disassemble .NET programs. I belived my source code was being posted without my consent and have since been in contact with the user in question and all is good...

That said, please, if you're a .NET developer who's considering creating and selling a commercial program there are programs out there like .NET Reflector (FREE) which can easily disassemble and display your code in seconds.... Do yourself a favor and look into obfuscation software for .NET which will atleast make it harder to disassemble and will, for the most part, stop the casual hacker from viewing your code.

I appreciate all of the positive feedback I've gotten from everyone here and I'm moving forward with the GCS program...in .NET. I am going to release it as open source but I'd like to get more of the development out of the way before I start getting other people involved. I haven't had much success with multi-developer situations and I'd like to get my "big ideas" done before letting everyone else have at it.

Thanks!
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Comments

  • Paul Mather November 13, 2010 at 2:22pm
    Open source posted for those interested...

    http://code.google.com/p/happykillmore-gcs/
  • edouard November 13, 2010 at 2:17pm
    Thanks, it's nicer for everyone who put up hard work for this! No major deal about the dials, they are very similar to those I made but aren't all airplane dials a bit like this, right :) Keep up the good work, it's always nice to see a dynamic community making things fly!
  • Paul Mather November 13, 2010 at 1:02pm
    Ed, I will comply with the terms of the open source license. I did not, however, use anything other than the .3ds files for the DirectX models in my project.
  • edouard November 13, 2010 at 6:40am
    Hi Happy, I won't speak as the OpenPilot project as a whole, but as one of the developers of the OpenPilot GCS, I think it's cool if you use our IP from OpenPilot.org for your GCS - I can speak as the author of all the dials artwork & code for example, which you obviously borrowed -, but the OpenPilot.org project has got licensing terms, CC-BY-SA for the artwork and GPLv3 for the code, you cannot just ignore them. I know the fully Open Source and non-profit approach of OpenPilot can be a cause of wonder for many, but that's how we like it...

    So thanks for this step towards an Open Source license and making things right again, the sooner will be the better. There is no respect to be gained by showing off work that you cannot really claim as yours, on the contrary! Giving credit where it's due is the way to go in the long run.

    Take a look at the links below for an example of the original artwork & GCS:

    - http://newwiki.openpilot.org/display/Doc/Sample+GCS+Configurations
    - http://newwiki.openpilot.org/display/Doc/Dials

    Ed
  • Martin Peres November 13, 2010 at 5:17am
    HappyKillmore: Never got why people went so crazy about .net. It is closed, not portable, no support for layouts (in GUIs) and this isn't really simple to use low-level programming API.

    That's horrible how much marketing can sell crappy products.
  • robert bouwens November 13, 2010 at 12:00am
    hi,
    another problem you introduced. maybe solvable using a second project?

    robert
    Compile complete -- 0 errors, 0 warnings
    UAVhud.Controls -> F:\downloads II\uav gcs\uavhud\UAVhud.Controls\bin\Debug\UAVhud.Controls.dll
    ------ Build started: Project: UAVhud, Configuration: Debug Any CPU ------
    C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Microsoft.Common.targets : warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "GMap.NET.WindowsForms". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors.
    C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Microsoft.Common.targets : warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "GMap.NET.Core". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors.
    C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Microsoft.Common.targets : warning MSB3245: Could not resolve this reference. Could not locate the assembly "BSE.Windows.Forms". Check to make sure the assembly exists on disk. If this reference is required by your code, you may get compilation errors.
    C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Microsoft.CSharp.targets(60,9): error MSB3041: Unable to create a manifest resource name for "Forms\DebugForm.resx". Could not find file 'F:\downloads II\uav gcs\uavhud\UAVhud\Forms\DebugForm.cs'.
    Done building project "UAVhud.csproj" -- FAILED.
    ------ Build started: Project: UAVhud.Communications, Configuration: Debug Any CPU ------
    C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Csc.exe /noconfig /nowarn:1701,1702 /errorreport:prompt /warn:4 /define:DEBUG;TRACE /reference:"C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\v3.5\System.Core.dll" /reference:"C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\v3.5\System.Data.DataSetExtensions.dll" /reference:C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Data.dll /reference:C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.dll /reference:C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\System.Xml.dll /reference:"C:\Program Files\Reference Assemblies\Microsoft\Framework\v3.5\System.Xml.Linq.dll" /reference:"F:\downloads II\uav gcs\uavhud\UAVhud.Common.Objects\bin\Debug\UAVhud.Common.Objects.dll" /debug+ /debug:full /filealign:512 /optimize- /out:obj\Debug\UAVhud.Communications.dll /target:library MapSource.cs NMEA.cs Properties\AssemblyInfo.cs VideoSource.cs
  • geir November 12, 2010 at 1:30pm
    Wow thanks for makeing me aware of this problem. BTW just downloaded a program called Eazfuscator.NET and net reflector could not read any thing :) Hopfully this fixes the problem, or at least makes it harder for people like that.
  • robert bouwens November 12, 2010 at 12:31pm
    hello,
    i downloaded the 'zip' contents and it does not compile.
    two files are missing.
    for me it is a headstart - i'm still waiting for my apm and oilpan shipment :(
    hopefully it arrives soon.

    thanks
    robert

    :\downloads II\uav gcs\uavhud\UAVhud.Controls\AvionicsInstrumentsControlsRessources.resx(132,5): error MSB3103: Invalid Resx file. Could not find file 'F:\downloads II\uav gcs\uavhud\UAVhud.Controls\Resources\Bandeau_Dérouleur.bmp'. Line 132, position 5.
    Done building project "UAVhud.Controls.csproj" -- FAILED.
    ------ Build started: Project: UAVhud, Configuration: Debug Any CPU ------
    C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v3.5\Microsoft.CSharp.targets(60,9): error MSB3041: Unable to create a manifest resource name for "Forms\DebugForm.resx". Could not find file 'F:\downloads II\uav gcs\uavhud\UAVhud\Forms\DebugForm.cs'.
    Done building project "UAVhud.csproj" -- FAILED.
    ========== Build: 2 succeeded or up-to-date, 2 failed, 0 skipped ==========
  • FLick November 12, 2010 at 10:39am
    So sorry for the situation. I can understan you. I'm in same situation but with avr codes, thinking about release an open source and make the hardware or just be closed. if you have regular .net you can tell microsoft that you lost future business for their bugs, they shoud refund you, really.
  • Earl November 12, 2010 at 8:14am
    HK we all love and respect your work. Please don't give up. I hope you do find a way to make some money for your efforts. I work 10-12 hours a day on the ER9x project but I don't expect to recover anything except the respect of the others on the forum.
    Keep up the great work !
    Earl
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