Any downsides to UPX-ing my 32-bit Python 2.6.4 development environment EXE/PYD/DLL files?

Question

Are there any downsides to UPX-ing my 32-bit Python 2.6.4 development environment EXE/PYD/DLL files?

The reason I'm asking is that I frequently use a custom PY2EXE script that UPX's copies of these files on every build.

Yes, I could get fancy and try to cache UPXed files, but I think a simpler, safer, and higher performance solution would be for me to just UPX my Python 2.6.4 directory once and be done with it.

Thoughts?

Malcolm

Answer 1

I have experienced significant increases in start up time when UPX compressed executables are run on systems with certain virus scanners. I was only compressing single executables, but I expect that each compressed dll would add to the start time.

Is it really necessary to use UPX? I can't imagine the space savings to be significant enough to be worth the trouble.