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> Packers and obfuscators are not a "VM". It may look like a VM and act like a VM, in that it has opcodes that you can write to in another higher-level "languag

> Packers and obfuscators are not a "VM". It may look like a VM and act like a VM, in that it has opcodes that you can write to in another higher-level "language", but that is not a VM. It's in the same sandbox as the thing you're trying to obfuscate. Indignant, caustic comments that simply discard all presented evidence such as this is the primary reason why people with the relevant experience have reduced their contributions on HN. I suspect I'll join their ranks too.

esseph 2y ago
If you explain what you disagree with, maybe people would learn something. If you joint "their ranks", you've simply gone down the bit of the "social media + expertise" bell curve, where the more expertise you get on a particular topic, the less you want to engage about it in public. This is not unique to any one field or realm of knowledge.
- supriyo-biswas 2y ago
  This is all correct, just that I'm lamenting the decline of technical discussions over uninformed positions and polarizing diatribes at a place I loved to come to be informed. /soapbox
  - esseph 2y ago
    You're the one doing the informing on this topic, congrats, you've forum-peaked.
- noduerme 2y ago
  It's also a learning experience on both sides if people who have the knowledge share it with others. Teaching is a great way to learn; I exercise a great deal in my mind when I'm not working by trying to help other people solve problems.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
- oefrha 2y ago
  > I can't think of a scenario where you'd need to deconstruct their front-end to mimic the calls. Just observe the calls and mimic them. Just about everything in that wall of text is wrong, but it’s rather pointless to engage someone who clearly has never reverse engineered a single thing with a modicum of defense, yet has tons of opinions on the subject. It’s like debating the pros and cons of programming languages with someone whose claim of expertise is having used computers. I totally get gp’s frustration. Denial of service with too many absurd points is real. > If you explain what you disagree with, maybe people would learn something. TFA explains in detail why reverse engineering is necessary, and specifically what is achieved by reverse engineering which part. ggp clearly has zero interest in learning when much of what they wrote has been refuted in the damn post being discussed. Other people can RTFA to learn as well, it’s a good technical post, and we don’t get enough of those these days.
  - supriyo-biswas 2y ago
    > Denial of service with too many absurd points is real. Otherwise also known as sealioning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning
    - noduerme 2y ago
      [flagged]
  - noduerme 2y ago
    k, you're saying you can't understand the obfuscated bullet they're sending to the backend unless you understand how it's turned into a particular nut on the front, and understand both sides of the request. I see how that makes sense, if you can't even figure out how to decipher the requests as you read them going out. Is that what you're trying to say? If so, say it, rather this this "wall of text" about why technical posts are scarce and bla bla bla. I'm more interested in the reason for this kind of obfuscation (and no, I don't think it's just to protect against bots, as there are many ways to do that).
    - 2y ago
noduerme 2y ago
I'm not trying to be caustic or indignant. Not at all! I'm very surprised someone would take it that way. I have a different definition of what a "VM" is. I've been writing code for 30+ years and this is my understanding of what that means. Please, by all means, if I am completely wrong then take the time to explain what your view is.
marvinmorvin 2y ago
[flagged]

esseph 2y ago

If you explain what you disagree with, maybe people would learn something. If you joint "their ranks", you've simply gone down the bit of the "social media + expertise" bell curve, where the more expertise you get on a particular topic, the less you want to engage about it in public. This is not unique to any one field or realm of knowledge.

supriyo-biswas 2y ago
This is all correct, just that I'm lamenting the decline of technical discussions over uninformed positions and polarizing diatribes at a place I loved to come to be informed. /soapbox
- esseph 2y ago
  You're the one doing the informing on this topic, congrats, you've forum-peaked.
noduerme 2y ago
It's also a learning experience on both sides if people who have the knowledge share it with others. Teaching is a great way to learn; I exercise a great deal in my mind when I'm not working by trying to help other people solve problems.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
oefrha 2y ago
> I can't think of a scenario where you'd need to deconstruct their front-end to mimic the calls. Just observe the calls and mimic them. Just about everything in that wall of text is wrong, but it’s rather pointless to engage someone who clearly has never reverse engineered a single thing with a modicum of defense, yet has tons of opinions on the subject. It’s like debating the pros and cons of programming languages with someone whose claim of expertise is having used computers. I totally get gp’s frustration. Denial of service with too many absurd points is real. > If you explain what you disagree with, maybe people would learn something. TFA explains in detail why reverse engineering is necessary, and specifically what is achieved by reverse engineering which part. ggp clearly has zero interest in learning when much of what they wrote has been refuted in the damn post being discussed. Other people can RTFA to learn as well, it’s a good technical post, and we don’t get enough of those these days.
- supriyo-biswas 2y ago
  > Denial of service with too many absurd points is real. Otherwise also known as sealioning: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealioning
  - noduerme 2y ago
    [flagged]
- noduerme 2y ago
  k, you're saying you can't understand the obfuscated bullet they're sending to the backend unless you understand how it's turned into a particular nut on the front, and understand both sides of the request. I see how that makes sense, if you can't even figure out how to decipher the requests as you read them going out. Is that what you're trying to say? If so, say it, rather this this "wall of text" about why technical posts are scarce and bla bla bla. I'm more interested in the reason for this kind of obfuscation (and no, I don't think it's just to protect against bots, as there are many ways to do that).
  - 2y ago

noduerme 2y ago

I'm not trying to be caustic or indignant. Not at all! I'm very surprised someone would take it that way. I have a different definition of what a "VM" is. I've been writing code for 30+ years and this is my understanding of what that means. Please, by all means, if I am completely wrong then take the time to explain what your view is.

marvinmorvin 2y ago

[flagged]