how do i encrypt my php files

Anon

Anon

encode or encrypt? Data or programs?

If you want your php code to be encoded so other folks can't just wander around in your source code, then look at the Zend Compiler (www.zend.com) which can compile your php into an intermediate form that is not directly human readable.

However, be quite sure that any program that will be executed on a machine you don't own can be hacked / reverse engineered, and compiling does NOT equal encrypting.

If you want to encrypt data for storage, look at mcrypt and the associated functions in the PHP documentation.

Anon

any alternatives to the zend encrypter? I don't know too many individuals that have the $2400 to spend on that piece of software.

smarlowe

I find it ironic that people would complain about paying for an encoder so they can sell the software they are writing in a non-human readable format.

If you wanna play that game, you gotta pay, or roll your own encoder.

Personally, I'd just charge them more and give them the code.

Anon

I understand that tactic, and it would work if i was planning on selling 1 copy. What if you wanted to sell a few hundred copies for cheap though?

smarlowe

I don't know. I make it a point to never buy programs I can't get the source code to. I've been screwed by vendor lockin too many times, mainly when a vendor just goes out of business or stops supporting the product. I'd rather write it myself or use an open source / source available program with 75% the functionality than use closed source.

We had a sales team in at work a while back selling some whiz bang software for big bucks and I made it clear that without a source code escape clause should they go out of business or stop producing the product I wasn't interested. They just couldn't understand my worries, so we didn't buy anything from them.

So, what are you planning on writing?

Anon

I don't think that I would have a problem with a source-code escape clause, if the company stopped selling or supporting the product. And while I agree with you that I would also rather write it myself than use closed source, not everyone can code.

I am writing a combination ad-rotation / link exchange type script, that gives credits to the referring website, not the website that the advertisement is on. I chose PHP because of it's easy, built-in database connectivity.