ESR: LLMs make closed-source binaries 'transparent as glass', ending secrecy as we know it
nitarshan · x · 2026-10-06
Eric S. Raymond, who formalized open source theory 30 years ago, argues LLMs are destroying closed source's ability to keep secrets.
- Core claim: Anything shipped as an executable or firmware image must now be assumed "as transparent as glass" — reverse-engineering it with an LLM is only a matter of motivation and time.
- The one exception: SaaS, where the executable hides behind a cloud connection.
- Reflection: ESR expected closed source to survive indefinitely in niches (games longest of all), driven to extinction only gradually by cost gradients — not wiped out in a "technoapocalypse" he never foresaw.
- Remaining obstacle: Under US law, decompiling a binary may count as a derivative work, keeping some legal friction.
Related event: ESR: LLM Reverse Engineering Will End the Closed-Source Era(2 posts)→
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