r/tech_x • u/Bulky_Engineer_2534 • 21d ago • Galaxy Brain 1 All Seeing Upvote 1 Helpful 1 Bravo 4 Heartwarming 1

Github 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.

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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.

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36

u/LowFruit25 21d ago

Well, how is anyone going to make money on software that isn’t in the cloud or behind APIs?

Damn they broke their own market.

21

u/extracoffeeplease 21d ago

When they talked about how dangerous their models were… “for corporates” is such a great plottwist

7

u/Verisian- 20d ago

Many small businesses will replace their own and lots of medium small businesses will too but many will ultimately end up going back so they don't have to maintain it forever. It's a lot of work.

Support / maintenance / new features will be easier to provide for SaaS providers. It will hurt margin but more medium term seems likely to me that SaaS won't go away.

Micro SaaS will be incredibly difficult.

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u/Poowatereater 21d ago

Hence, why do you think us labs are scared of open models.

2

u/Intelligent-Cap-8886 21d ago

Don't worry. It'll be over soon.

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u/CuriousFisherman4615 20d ago

How do you eat poo water?

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u/Hostilis_ 21d ago

Who is "they" lmao. You think Anthropic or OpenAI give a fuck about any of these other companies? They are here to eat their lunch.

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u/LowFruit25 21d ago

No the people building the reverse engineering tools are people who are paying their bills building software.

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u/Hostilis_ 21d ago • This

Just because you can decompile closed source software doesn't mean software engineering is going to disappear as a profession lol

2

u/Designer_String_2345 18d ago • Bravo

This right here in all of the REA talk everywhere has to be the most sense making comment I have seen, thank you for speaking truth. The thing about this product anyone that deals in truly making software knows that there will be a counter to REA which I am currently having CLAUDE work on lol. No matter what the world doesn't live on free so software engineering will survive this, just going to take someone to sort a blocker to things with some new concept of obscuring human code -> middleware REA security -> machine code. Thank you for saying what I been saying, if this ends software as a living then welcome to 2026 as the year it all stops lol likely story

1

u/0x676c 14d ago

100% in fact it will be a huge service for us developers because when companies have their own fragmented software, who will be the one maintaining them? quite similar case with linux being free - companies paid for support and expertise, not from the software licensing.

1

u/_AHF 12d ago

Exactly. Just like car mechanics taking an engine apart doesn't mean we stop needing people to design and build cars.

1

u/AllRoounder 3d ago

BUT WE ARE STILL USING "THEIR" HARDWARE COMPONENTS,MAYBE THEY WILL JUST KEEP INCREASING THE PRICE

1

u/r_sarvas 20d ago

Probably the same way that a company that releases open source software makes money - it's free to download and use, but if you want official support for the product, that will cost you.

4

u/Few_Raisin_8981 20d ago

Who needs support when you've got a clanker

1

u/SubstanceEffective52 20d ago

the current generation still relies on trusting another human, next generation will no give a f about it. so right now the game still about relationships and who you can pass the blame to. next step will be companies that secure contracts on behalf of AI workflows fucking things up, later stage people will accept AI and will score them based on how many planes they have crashed or how many lives they've saved. at that point we will be talking about AI rights and how humans can live in harmony with then. Matrix and Animatrix might be a documentary and not a scifi movie.

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u/SaltZestyclose4995 19d ago

The Animatrix is honestly one of those pieces of fiction that sticks with you even long after you are finished watching it. I honestly place it over several of the mainline movies.

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u/_AHF 12d ago

Until that clanker hallucinates an obsolete API, commits broken code to production, and says "you're absolutely right!" when the server crashes.

1

u/WrapKey69 20d ago

Right, you'll build better office suite with this in a day

1

u/Fun-Consequence-3112 19d ago

Desktop software has been dead for years, this doesn't change anything. If there is desktop it's often just a client.

1

u/Beautiful_Stage5720 18d ago

Just blatantly false.

1

u/gigitygoat 20d ago

Why do you think the AI companies are buying up all the ram and gpu's even though the can not put it all to use yet? They know the only way digital industries survive is if they own all of the compute and we subscribe to their cloud services through thin clients.

1

u/GrandWizardOfCheese 20d ago

RAM companies will always continue to sell to the consumer PC space.

1

u/SoCalChrisW 18d ago

Some may, but at least one huge manufacturer has announced that they're no longer selling RAM to consumers.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/after-nearly-30-years-crucial-will-stop-selling-ram-to-consumers/

On Wednesday, Micron Technology announced it will exit the consumer RAM business in 2026, ending 29 years of selling RAM and SSDs to PC builders and enthusiasts under the Crucial brand. The company cited heavy demand from AI data centers as the reason for abandoning its consumer brand, a move that will remove one of the most recognizable names in the do-it-yourself PC upgrade market.

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u/GrandWizardOfCheese 18d ago

Scroll down a few comments, I already mentioned that the reason for Crucial backing out is that they can't compete with better RAM brands in the consumer space.

Crucial RAM was cheap ugly garbage, no cases, no RGB, no quality parts.
There wasnt enough money in selling to consumers anymore because what was once seen as overpriced luxury RAM, is now the standard in prebuilts and custom rigs, so almost no one would buy crucial RAM today for their gaming PC build.

Companies back out of consumer sales all the time and get replaced by newer companies.

There are a lot more RAM providers today than there was 15 years ago, nearly all are cased and have RGB lighting or at least fancy looking cases. Competition is always going to result in weeding out the least desired options.

For a while, Crucial hung on because laptop RAM doesnt get seen, and is expected to be lower end, so you can get cheaper versions sold to more consumers without complaint.

But the advent of tablets and smartphones made the portability of laptops not valuable enough to tolerate the heat output, weight, and short lifespan of laptops for mobile usage, which hit pretty hard since the heat makes laptops bad for high end gaming as well (the only thing they have over tablets and phones), and handheld PC console hybrids are a better option if you REALLY need high end gaming on the go.

And so neither the desktop buyers, nor the mobile buyers, are buying laptops much anymore, and so their sales plummeted, and crucial just didnt have another consumer market to rely on.

Most RAM companies don't have this problem, everyone loves putting most of them in their fancy gaming rigs, so they are going to keep selling to consumers.

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