Re: source code of a java app?
On Tue, Apr 22, 2003 at 08:23:46AM -0500, Brooks R. Robinson wrote:
> martin f krafft wrote:
> | The second major challenge I see in the source code issue. MIT
> | doesn't release the source code, so I guess it is not viable for
> | Debian. Am I right, and should I push them to release to us, or are
> | there even other issues at stake here?
>
> Well, if it's a java app, it can be decompiled back into source.
> There are a few apps designed to do just that, but I don't know of any
> in Debian in particular.
jad's in non-free; javap comes with various JVMs/JREs.
> IMHO, Java is potentially the greatest open source language there is,
> since it is simple to decompile back to source.
Well, hey, you could pick one in which programs aren't shipped in a
compiled form in the first place ... those are much friendlier to people
trying to hack around with them.
> I say simple, but then, I didn't write the decompiler. :)
Note that, IIRC, the Java .class format doesn't store the names of local
variables in methods, so you lose a good deal of intelligibility during
the decompilation process.
Cheers,
--
Colin Watson [cjwatson@flatline.org.uk]
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