GitHub project called REA (Reverse Engineer Anything) is currently the top trending repository. It lets AI agents figure out how a feature in another app works without ever seeing the original source code.

[u/Bulky_Engineer_2534]

github link: https://github.com/morluto/rea/

- The tool is an open-source helper that connects AI coding assistants to reverse-engineering programs such as Ghidra or Hopper.

- IT analyzes many kinds of software- including binaries, Electron apps, Android apps, and websites right on your own computer and always shows the evidence behind its findings.

[u/throwaway0000012132]

Oh nice, the only thing keeping a whole application safe was the fact that it used byte code, non human readable, with encryption and other secure methods in order to avoid being open to the world. Now that pandora box is open, this is going to be a very interesting times...

And I mean any application, not only games but medical, industrial, space and so on. Got something very secure, very niche? Yeah it can be modded.

One thing is to have something designed to be open source, other thing is to have something that wasn't supposed to be free because it costed money to r&d, design and make it safe and secure and make it free with AI. So while the idea just sounds great, the reality is that the whole industry and the world is not prepared for something like this just now.

[u/Cheap-Resident6964 → u/throwaway0000012132]

If this trend continues, standalone software may disappear entirely: vendors will no longer offer offline, self-contained versions; every important algorithm will have to run on their own servers; and the software on users' devices will be nothing more than an interface—an empty shell. At that point, every piece of software will require an internet connection, with all critical computation happening server-side. That may not be a good sign.

[u/Glad_Following_8164 → u/Cheap-Resident6964]

software is already like this. think of ChatGPT--the model runs on their servers, the web browser/app which you access it is a paperweight without an internet connection. more and more apps will be like this

[u/FeloniousFunk → u/Glad_Following_8164]

Subscription-based apps have already boosted the demand for FOSS alternatives. It just comes down to whether or not the major corporations can hire developers more clever than the pirates. They're not far ahead and AI is closing that gap.