🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <3819@tank.uchicago.edu> ra_robert@gsbacd.uchicago.edu writes:

   In article <14758.2494DD71@cmhgate.FIDONET.ORG>, Chris.Parson@f54.n382.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Chris Parson) writes...
    
   >        I don't understand the furor!  MacNosy ( by Jasik Designs ) has
   >been able to disassemble the Mac ROMs for years!  So the code has
   >been availible for years.  Big deal.                            

   It's a big deal because disassembly <> source code.  Source code is
   _much_ more informative.  It's like having a copy of a book in
   English and in a foreign language (which you don't speak).  The
   same information is there, but it's much easier to understand in
   one version than the other.

I've disassembled quite a lot of software, on the order of 100K of
executable code.  I estimate that the amount of work needed to produce
a compilable source of an executable is approximately equal to the
amount of work required to write it in the first place.  If I were
producing a Macintosh clone, I would have two sets of people working
on it, one disassembling the existing code, and another rewriting it
from scratch.  The two teams would communicate only by a third party,
and a lab notebook would be kept of all communications.  Further, I
wouldn't bother to try to save space as the original Mac team did.
Better to reduce your profit with an extra ROM and get the clone out
the door.
--
--russ (nelson@clutx [.bitnet | .clarkson.edu])
A person who seeks peace using weapons will never find it.  [Thanks, Clayton.]