| so you are just obsfucating function names?
i hadn't really spent time reading this thread, but i do see some mis-conceptions.
it is completely possible to prevent users on a shared host from snooping around other user's directories by jailing the users to their own root directories.
now if you knew the path to a peticular file in another user's web root, you may be able to use PHP to read that file. you probably could not do this logged into the shell as your own user, but you could execute it through the browser which then makes the 'apache' or whatever the http server user is to access the file. that user surely has permissions to read the file.
PHP safe mode will prevent this cross directory reading, however safe mode also limits you in other areas. ultimately it would depend on if you mind using a host that restricts users to safe mode.
ultimately if you're worried about your code being stolen, you should just use a dedicated server, or a virtual dedicated server.
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Mike |