There is a vast variety of software you can use and you may think all software is the same but it is not. When it comes to privacy not all software is focused on protecting your privacy.
What is Source Code?
Source code is the part of software that most computer users don’t ever see; it’s the code computer programmers manipulate to control how a program or application behaves. Programmers who have access to source code can change a program by adding to it, changing it, or fixing parts of it that aren’t working properly.
What is Closed Source Software?
Closed source software is highly guarded. Only the owners (software manufactures) of the source code have the legal right to access that code. Closed source code cannot be legally altered or copied, and the user pays only to use the software as it is intended, they cannot modify it for new uses nor share it with their communities. As you are unable to view the source code you have to trust the software is not accessing your personal data on your computer.
Examples of Closed Source Software
- Microsoft Office
- Adobe Photoshop
- Skype
- iTunes
What is Open-Source Software?
Open source software is code that is designed to be publicly accessible, anyone can see, modify, and distribute the code as they see fit.
Open source software is developed in a decentralized and collaborative way, relying on peer review and community production. Open source software is often cheaper, more flexible, and has more longevity than its proprietary peers because it is developed by communities rather than a single author or company. The software can be shared, modified by the user and is usually free to use.
As anyone can view the source code you know exactly what the software is doing on your computer. This makes open source software generally more safe and private. With so many programmers working on a piece of open-source software without asking for permission from original authors, they can fix, update, and upgrade open-source software more quickly than they can on closed source software. This generally makes open source software more secure.
Advantages of Open Source Software
- Peer review: Because the source code is freely accessible and the open source community is very active, open source code is actively checked and improved upon by peer programmers. Think of it as living code, rather than code that is closed and becomes stagnant.
- Transparency: Need to know exactly what kinds of data are moving where, or what kinds of changes have happened in the code? Open source allows you to check and track that for yourself, without having to rely on vendor promises.
- Reliability: Proprietary code relies on the single author or company controlling that code to keep it updated, patched, and working. Open source code outlives its original authors because it is constantly updated through active open source communities. Open standards and peer review ensure that open source code is tested appropriately and often.
- Flexibility: Because of its emphasis on modification, you can use open source code to address problems that are unique to your business or community. You aren’t locked in to using the code in any one specific way, and you can rely on community help and peer review when you implement new solutions.
- Lower cost: With open source the code itself is free.
- No vendor lock-in: Freedom for the user means that you can take your open-source code anywhere, and use it for anything, at any time. You are not locked in by the vendor’s price increases and inability to leave with all the data intact
- Open collaboration: The existence of active open-source communities means that you can find help, resources, and perspectives that reach beyond one interest group or one company.
Examples of Open Source Software
- VLC player
- Linux Mint Operating System
- Libre Office
- Darktable Image Editor
Does open-source software lack features of closed source?
Some people assume that open source software lacks the features of closed source software as open source software is not made by a commercial company. This is not true and in fact open source software can easily match the features of closed source software. Open source software often gets more updates and new features than closed source software. A great example of this is Libre Office which is an open source alternative to closed source Microsoft Office. Libre office easily matched the features of Microsoft Office and is regularly updated and supported by a passionate community of software developers. When you use open source software you do not need to sacrifice features or usability of closed source software. Also, the freedom to customise the software to meet your needs is a big advantage of open-source software.
Is open source secure?
Open-source software is secure for the following reasons:
1. More people are inspecting the code. This enables more issues to be found – and fixed.
2. Vulnerabilities are fixed much faster and updates are more frequent. This leaves little time to exploit any imperfections of the code.
Increased security of the source code is the main reason why open-source software is being so popular and is perceived as the biggest open-source software advantage.
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