Quote:
Originally Posted by brob28
I'm in the boat right next to Peter so if this next question is ignorant please help me understand why.
Could they be reluctant to give this type of information out for fear that it could then be used to hack or somehow exploit the software by bidders or others?
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Possibly.
The cost of writing it might have been fairly high, and/or they may consider their software to be a trade secret of sorts.
Hardly anyone will easily give up the source code. To the point that most license agreements (That long thing you check off as agreeing to when installing software) Expreessly forbid accessing it in any way.
And I think many of the larger companies consider removing source code from the company system or premises to be a firing offense.
It's compiled, which means put in a form the computer can use it that wouldn't make any sense to nearly anyone. It can be decompiled to get back to the original program, which is what they forbid. I've been told it's not necessarily easy, but possible.
I could be wrong about any of that, but I think I've got it right in a general sense.
Steve B