AutoHotkey Community

See http://www.autohotkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=53129 for a short intro. UPX can cause compiled AHK scripts to be flagged as a virus/trojan

Should the UPX be removed from the Autohotkey installer, be optional (with a warning about false positives), or be kept in (so users have to remove UPX themselves)

Edit: feel free to motivate your choice

Edit2 Oct 2010: upx has been replaced with http://www.matcode.com/mpress.htm (mpress.exe in compiler folder) for ahk_l, see ahk_l discussion thread here http://www.autohotkey.com/forum/viewtop ... 672#379672

Edit3 Dec 2010:

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AHK FAQ
TF : Text files & strings lib, TF Forum

in the installer for AHK, there is that check list of things you want to include. UPX could be in that list.

for non-installers, it could be included, but renamed as something else so it's 'off' by default. if people want it on, they can just rename the file.

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rawr. be very afraid
*poke*
Note: My name is all lowercase for a reason.
"I think Bigfoot is blurry, that's the problem. It's not the photographer's fault, Bigfoot is blurry. So there's a large, out-of-focus monster roaming the countryside."

I don't see any good reason not to install it with autohotkey.

but i think the important thing is to not have it used by default when compiling, and to warn the user seriously about the repercussions if they choose to activate it.

The real solution is to try & get UPX delisted as being bad...we report false positives on AutoHotkey but we should report UPX itself as false positive...

Also AutoHotkey Server time is 5 mins off (behind)...it's 3:33am EST now...

the problem is upx is a common compression to use with viruses it is guilty by association

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No matter what your oppinion Please join this discussion
Formal request to Polyethene

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The quick onyx goblin jumps over the lazy dwarf

UPX is the chosen compression software of AutoHotkey. [More..]

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Religion is false. >_>

I voted "make UPX compression optional" since I think it'll help solve a common problem, but TBH I don't use compiled scripts.

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The quick onyx goblin jumps over the lazy dwarf

(English note: "Are there" should be "Is there" {or "Are there any better packers" to make it plural})

...No, UPX is the best packer I know of, it's just really annoying that it gets flagged as a virus soo much...


...UPX doesn't turn ahk into an exe, ahk2exe does that, then UPX makes the exe smaller...UPX has nothing to do with AutoHotkey, other than we use it to make exe's smaller...UPX can be used to make any exe smaller...

I vote for a checkbox & maybe even turning UPX off by default, but I don't support removing it...if we do that, then the Anti-Virus Companies, with their false postives, have won...

One question could be: is UPX still needed, in days were a 10MB install file is said to be "small"?
I love small but efficient software, but UPX is only a kind of "cheat", and I was never convinced of its usefulness, particularly for software like AHK which isn't that big.

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vPhiLho := RegExReplace("Philippe Lhoste", "^(\w{3})\w*\s+\b(\w{3})\w*$", "$1$2")

I think UPX must be an option...

http://www.autohotkey.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22975



It seems that UPX saves disk space but will use more memory?

I have to agree with PhiLho here. the internet is such that 10MB files are not a /huge/ deal to send anymore, though on my crappy cell phone internet in Germany, it would take me a few minutes for 10MB.

since typical AHK scripts (without fancy stuff embedded) are less than 0.5MB without UPX, I would vote for removing it entirely from the install. I think it will help dissociate AHK from the stigma UPX has.

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(Common Answers) - New Tutorials Forum - Humongous FAQ

For larger exe files you can always ZIP them too, plenty of portable apps are distributed that way.

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AHK FAQ
TF : Text files & strings lib, TF Forum

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The quick onyx goblin jumps over the lazy dwarf