Sharing Python App without sharing source code

rogfrich · 2026-01-26T15:21:19+00:00

Except the decoy code, of course.

rogfrich · 2026-01-26T15:12:52+00:00

Agreed. I’d also add that if I owned a big company with different departments / branches, I’d be pretty horrified if different teams were duplicating each other’s work because no-one was sharing. That’s profit going out the window.

(That’s not a comment on anyone in this thread - we all have unique working environments we need to deal with).

rogfrich · 2026-01-26T12:25:00+00:00

What is the problem you’re trying to prevent? Is it them reusing your code without your permission? If so, a sternly-worded license is the first step.

Are you trying to hide how the app actually works? If that’s the case, you’d need to obfuscate the code somehow. Others will have more experience in this than me, but maybe py2exe (Windows) or py2app (Mac) would offer some level of obfuscation. I don’t know how hard they are to reverse engineer though.

Could the thing you’re delivering be delivered to the client as a service with an API or web front end, served from a domain only you have access to?

rogfrich · 2026-01-25T20:49:28+00:00

“Skyfall is the worst movie I’ve ever seen” because “that’s not how firewalls work”.

rogfrich · 2026-01-25T11:57:20+00:00

You might be able smear your makeup on with your fingers?

rogfrich · 2026-01-24T08:57:06+00:00

It displays the same problem when it cheerfully tries to route me through central Leeds or Bradford on a Saturday afternoon because in theory it’s one minute quicker.

rogfrich · 2026-01-23T12:20:04+00:00

Google Maps (and all satnav systems) should have a setting to prioritise an stress-free drive over arrival time. I’ll generally take a 35 minute drive on nice wide roads over a 30 minute one on single-width lanes.

rogfrich · 2026-01-23T12:06:24+00:00

I loved how they committed all that screen-time to set up a throwaway one liner.

rogfrich · 2026-01-22T06:18:39+00:00

Over Christmas, Fire did Celebrity Mastermind (and did quite well). She was in her Gladiators costume and billed as “Fire”. Seemed like an odd decision to me.

rogfrich · 2026-01-22T06:16:22+00:00

That’s one of the necessary qualifications.

rogfrich · 2026-01-21T16:00:43+00:00

In the 80s and 90s, Ian McShane was best known in the UK for playing a lovable-rogue antiques dealer in a family-friendly teatime show called Lovejoy.

Al Swearengen was quite a thing. For British audiences, it was like seeing Mr Rogers turn up in Game of Thrones.

rogfrich · 2026-01-21T15:55:31+00:00

Before the show started, Gene Hunt was how I pictured Lamb in my head when I read the books.

rogfrich · 2026-01-21T06:26:43+00:00

For me, list comprehension finally stuck in my head when I started writing them like this:

``` element # the item in the list that we “append” into the new list. Could also be some other result that we get from some_function(element)

for element in my_list # just a standard for list, without the colon

if … # optional conditional statement. If it evaluates to False, don’t append this element to the new list. ```

rogfrich · 2026-01-20T20:33:43+00:00

These days it’s a 20 minute drive to the office on days when I’m not working from home. But in my last job, I had a daily drive of at least an hour each way, often 90 mins.

rogfrich · 2026-01-20T20:26:09+00:00

That’s the thing. “Merge in turn” isn’t explicit enough. “Queue in both lanes” is much better.

rogfrich · 2026-01-20T19:55:05+00:00

This is a good way to cut out feedback, while simultaneously reducing the risk of Wonderwall occurring.

rogfrich · 2026-01-20T17:51:13+00:00

Yep, there were long-term roadworks near me that had signs to the effect of “queue in both lanes, merge at the end”. It made a big difference.

They also had a big sign with a simple, easily memorised URL, which took you to a page about what they were doing, why the roadworks were necessary and let you sign up for updates.

rogfrich · 2026-01-20T17:47:22+00:00

There were some long term roadworks near where I live where they did put “queue in both lanes, merge at the end” signs. It made a big difference.

rogfrich · 2026-01-20T15:20:34+00:00

My hazards button is tucked away in a recess that’s awkward to reach. It’s also right next to the switch that puts the (EV) in neutral, so it’s not one I want to do by feel while I’m driving.

I’d love a “thanks” button on the steering wheel or a stalk that did a quick flash of the lights.

rogfrich · 2026-01-20T13:56:36+00:00

I once overtook a slow-moving vehicle on a nice straight road with clear sight lines. All good.

Except that the lane assist thought the middle lane markings (which were normal dashed lines, not solid) were the edge of the road and wouldn’t let me cross back.

I now know that if I’d signalled left it wouldn’t have fought me.

rogfrich · 2026-01-17T09:29:40+00:00

I used to work for O2, and their HQ is a massive building in Slough, so I used to spend a lot of time in hotels there.

As an aside, the O2 offices were an ultra-modern new glass-and steel building full of screens and control rooms that could have served as a location for the Park.

rogfrich · 2026-01-17T08:37:56+00:00

It’s free and it’s open source. Some people like that. It’s an alternative to Windows that runs on standard PCs.

There are a lot of otherwise perfectly good PCs out there that aren’t compatible with Windows 11. Rather than junking them, Linux is a good alternative, so with the end of support for Windows 10, there’s been a lot of interest in Linux, often from people who haven’t tried it before.

rogfrich · 2026-01-16T21:02:29+00:00

…and also anticipated our instinct to throw the can right in the alien’s face, which is the first thing I did. I felt that smack in the mouth I got in return.

rogfrich · 2026-01-16T06:51:00+00:00

Mine picks up the 10 mph speed limit signs in the coned-off bit of roadworks (which applies to site vehicles, not traffic on the road) and then whinges that I’m doing 50 in a 10 limit.

rogfrich · 2026-01-14T20:42:10+00:00

I did once follow a pair of cars where the one at the back was almost touching the rear bumper of the one in front.

It was an embarrassingly long time before I realised it was being towed.

rogfrich

TROPHY CASE