UPX is open source and works on linux , windows and mac (ie. cross platform) I would like to know why the torrenting space isn’t using it already / having a mature discussion about it.

  • schizo@forum.uncomfortable.business
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    2 months ago

    Pack what executables exactly?

    Like take a copy of Nodobe Notoshop and repack it?

    If that’s what you mean, uh, politely, but fuck no. Malware is enough of a problem that there’s no way I’d want to start downloading crap that’s been UPXed since that’s going to make it impossible to determine if it’s legitimate or not by (most) endpoint tools, or they’ll just see UPX and go ‘bad shit!’ on everything.

        • Linuxer@discuss.onlineOP
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          2 months ago

          . Malware is enough of a problem that there’s no way I’d want to start downloading crap that’s been UPXed since that’s going to make it impossible to determine if it’s legitimate or not by (most) endpoint tools, or they’ll just see UPX and go ‘bad shit!’ on everything.

          You had clearly misunderstood what this tool is. Its tool for better compression of executables which could be used in data sensitive (Like , most people would agree with me that some times decrypting on our own local device could be better since it could be more predictable than waiting for seeders , because there are very less seeders)

          • schizo@forum.uncomfortable.business
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            2 months ago

            Politely, but no.

            It’s a compression tool that is also used to mask malware, and you’re proposing to expand it’s use in a use case that’s ALREADY coated in enough malware to give you herpes just by walking past your average tracker.

            It’s a bad idea from a security perspective, and it’s not going to outperform a LZMA-based compression tool using a large dictionary (7zip, etc.) which also isn’t fucking with binaries in a way that makes detecting and preventing malicious software more complicated for the average user, who typically knows absolutely zero about what’s going on.

          • montar@lemmy.ml
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            2 months ago

            He didn’t, malware guys use UPX and it’s true that antiviruses scream bloody murder when they see it. It’s also true you can’t see what’s inside unless you have special tools to do so. UPX also has one huge downside, it’s its RAM usage, due to it’s inner workings it’s unable to use optimisations that normal binaries can like page sharing.

            • Linuxer@discuss.onlineOP
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              2 months ago

              okay so what alternative do you suggest which could be better used in exe formats I feel that unzipping from exe isn’t the best solution to this problem

              (like some exe contain some zip file inside them and extract them)

              • montar@lemmy.ml
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                2 months ago

                Just putting all your stuff in one big .7z so you can unpack it to directory then scan them all w/ AV.

  • Kissaki@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2 months ago

    The executable being packed in an executable format means it has to be decompressed on each launch. If it doesn’t it means it’s not saving any space anyway.

    I don’t know what packing you’re looking for, but Windows applications are typically installed with installers. An executable compressed executable goes against this; unless you want to pack installers.

    Traditional file compression works well enough. People know to launch an msi or exe or read a README. Introducing non-standard tools is not necessarily a good idea, and certainly is not intuitive to users not already familiar with it.

  • Teknikal@eviltoast.org
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    2 months ago

    Have you ever used upx on a windows machine, defender throws fits and deletes everything.

  • catloaf@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    What advantage does it have over existing methods? It’s great that it’s cross-platform, but so are zip files. And the content inside isn’t cross-platform, so I don’t think that ultimately adds anything.

    • Linuxer@discuss.onlineOP
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      2 months ago

      I mean , I use linux but I can use wine to run the content inside , so in some sense “every content” is cross platform. I think it ultimately adds to better performance specifically for executable torrents in the long run over things like zip.

    • Linuxer@discuss.onlineOP
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      2 months ago

      yes I think it does indeed have better ratio than 7z with better speed , I think without the need of extraction.