Mar
05
2007
| Why I'd Love Joomla Developers to Stop Encoding Components |
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| Monday, 05 March 2007 | |
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<rant>
Those of you who know me realise I rarely, rarely get worked up ..... I think this is the first time I've used this blog to blow off steam. Its so rare, I've even had to create a whole new blog category for this.
Anyway, the last couple of weeks I've been frustrated one recurring problem - encoded components. This issue has come up in three different situations:
I am not against encoding per se and realise that developers need to be protected from people spreading their files around on warez sites. However, the problem is often with the way that the encoding is implemented:
Finally, in closing, its appropriate to give kudos to those companies that produce commercial components but haven't yet succumbed to the siren call of encoding:
(I'll be happy to add anyone I've missed) </rant> Comments (12)
  written by steve, March 05, 2007
Hi Amy
I think that encoding should be the absolute minimum neccessary to stop people abusing the software and using it on multiple domains. Anything else, such as encoding the files simply to stop rivals reading the code, or restricting the components use on subdomains is a long way from the principles that attracted most of us to Joomla in the first place. Fortunately this problem is not too widespread. In general we have a blacklist of three Joomla companies whose products we won't use for a combination of shoddy service, overly-restrictive licenses and the fact that encoded files contain places where we need to make modifications. written by steve, March 06, 2007
We're in contact with one company right now whose bad customer service and ridiculous licensing may lead to them getting called out in days to come.
Watch this space...  written by Fabien Lanselle, March 19, 2007
Hello,
I would like to say that you can add us  www.neojoomla.com Some of our components were encrypted with IonCube, but we have decided to stop encoding. We just propose evalutation version which are encrypted... As you, I think, it's a mistake to encode for many reasons. Congratulations for your blog, it's really interesting! I'm a big fan  written by steve, March 19, 2007
Hi Fabien
That is good news I've added you to the list above. Thanks too for your work with Joomla - we're running NeoReferences on our site : http://www.alledia.com/porfolio/  written by aravot, April 10, 2007
You can add www.azrul.com to the list I bought MyBlog component it wasn't encoded.
written by steve, April 11, 2007
Hi Aravot
Thanks for pointing that out! I've added Azrul to the list. Steve written by Louis Landry, April 13, 2007
Nice writeup Steve. I agree with a lot of what you said and would also say that for me the free as in freedom aspect of open source software is incredibly important. Freedom with regard to software comes from the ability to modify things to suit your needs, and that is yet another argument for not encoding extensions.
Food for thought: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gp...AndPlugins written by steve, April 13, 2007
Hi Louis
I agree - thats a big potential issue. As the encoding increases, so does the risk of infringing on the GPL. I appreciate the stance of people such as Vince from Jomres.com, who will encode the absolute minimum neccessary to stop people ripping off their products. Encoding simply to maintain a competitive advantage however....  Steve written by Andrew Eddie, April 13, 2007
Ok, after a bit a arm wrestling, I'm in.
http://www.newlifeinit.com/ind...om_content (yes, I'll get around to SEF url's one day) I have a mix of free and commercial products on the way. I'm certainly not worried about people "cheating" off me, as I'm trying to maintain code quality as close as possible to the core examples anyway. So, if you are smart, you can work out how I've done something even if it is encoded. The way you run your business, or the quality of your product should be your "competitive edge". However, as an owner of Intellectual Property, I am concerned about unlawful use (aka Piracy). If it gets really bad I may have to change my thinking, but until then, I'll stick to an open format. Write comment
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Very good points, as usual. I have struggled with encrypted code. My favorite calendar, Thyme, is encoded. I don't mind the price - in fact, it's a heck of a deal for as amazing as the calendar is.
But, why should some software be "protected" from the community eyeballs when it is taking full advantage of a market that exists because of trust others place into the community? I just don't like it.
Watching Eben Moglen's video of his Plone Keynote really cemented it for me. I completely support commercial open source products, but I can not get behind encoding. If we buy it, we are discouraging our open source developers. It makes no sense to me.
A Link to Moglen's speech: http://daledietrich.com/imedia...community/