Is PECompact the new PEBundle?

[vbman213]

I am currently playing around with the trial version, I might end up buying the freeware license later on. Not really sure if "this" is the tool for me...

Can PECompact do the same thing as PEBundle? Bundle DLLs with EXEs?

[Jeremy Collake]

No, PECompact can't do what PEBundle can, sorry.

[vbman213]

Oh

Any reason why PEBundle was abandoned? PEBundle was amazing for use with compilers that do not support Static Linking or if 3rd party DLL doesn't come with a static link library version...

[Jeremy Collake]

It is a long story.. I always intended to resurrect PEBundle, but never have got around to it. Perhaps I will some day..

[vbman213]

Well I hope so! PEBundle was and still is amazing. I have tried other competitors to PEBundle and they produce bloated EXEs... Like the same EXE and same DLL packed with PEBundle might be 55kb, but packed with another product might be 200kb... Totally unacceptable. PEBundle ftw!

[!GreeN!]

I read somewhere that Thinstall has taken PEBundle from you - is this truth

[Jeremy Collake]

No, it is NOT the truth.

I briefly went to work for Thinstall. The arrangement didn't work out for personal reasons. The ONLY agreement I signed was to not distribute PEBundle for the period of one year. I am now at liberty to sell and distribute PEBundle at will, if I ever resurrect it.

Many of the ideas of Thinstall were taken from PEBundle, since PEBundle was the first of its kind. Of course, they were developed independently, so I don't want to say he directly copied me or anything. He did his own work, though did get some good ideas for solutions to complex problems from PEBundle. It is sad I had taken this employment opportunity and killed off PEBundle for a year, then never brought it back.

To be clear - PEBundle is not under the ownership of anyone other than me, and I can (and may) bring it back at any time.

Thinstall was later acquired by VMWare. It also freely utilizes my JCALG1 compression algorithm. Meanwhile, I live in poverty.. but I have nobody to blame but myself ;o

[!GreeN!]

It's so sad, but You still have PEBundle. I've seen that last version was 3.20 [dated 2004]. You really haven't time to resurrect it [at least for Internet knowledge it still lives]??

[Jeremy Collake]

I have planned to merge the two products, which is ironically similar to your question. I have made about 20% progress towards this goal, but work stopped a long time ago. I hope to continue it after I 'finish' with Process Lasso. I am hopeful this will be soon, as I am ready to get back into the PE work again...

I can start making the older versions more readily available in the meantime, I suppose.. I worry about anti-viral false alarms though, as it doesn't have the same level of support by the AV companies that PECompact does. That is another reason I wanted to merge the two, to take advantage of PECompact's existing AV interoperability.

[!GreeN!]

Alexey Solodovnikov wrote compressor called ASPack, and him brother - protector ASProtect. Have You thought about own crypter/protector??
JCrypt sounds good. With JCALG it could get big popularity, because PECompact is very popular. Even You can join that with PEBundle to patent own new protection method. Have You got relationship with Teggo Software [MoleBox]??

[Jeremy Collake]

I am very much opposed to software patents. Thinstall went and got some patents on technology I already had put out into the world. As with 99% of software patents, they were completely invalid (due to prior art). I would only patent something if it was a new ALGORITHM, not just a simple engineering method. Its ridiculous the crap people patent. The problem is the patent examiners don't know jack, so don't know that prior art exists. It has to go to court, where the truth is told. Unfortunately, if you're a small company, its hard to go to court to defend yourself against an invalid patent. Patent reform needs to happen NOW, else this entire industry is at risk. As it stands today, if all software patents were actually enforced, we would have total chaos. Fortunately, most are filed as self-protection measures, as the authors know they are likely to be invalid if actually challenged in court. Of course, courts get messy anyway.. if you get a big corporation after you, with paid 'expert' witnesses, it gets difficult to defend yourself... and judges are no smarter than patent examiners.

Anyway, I try to stay out of the software protection business, because its so impossible. It is something I consider from time to time though, and of course PECompact has some inherent capabilities in this regard.

I have no relationship with the owner of MoleBox, and always wondered who is really behind it...

[!GreeN!]

I understand You're near the full deprivation of software solutions [I mean JCALG etc...]??

[Jeremy Collake]

If you mean I'm too busy right now, yes I am . I have lots of software to maintain.

[!GreeN!]

Well, so I learned everything I wanted. Remains for me to wish you a happy New Year, good luck with your software, the least bugs, PEBundle resurrection, creativity, health and happiness again