What Is Open Source?

If you’ve read my previous blog entries, you may have noticed I use the term open source a few times and you may ask, what does that mean? Well the source code of an application or service is the human-readable programming code that makes up the existence of that entity. As opposed to proprietary software, which keeps the code under lock and key within the organization, open source software keeps the programming code in a publicly-visible repository.

What does this mean for me?

While it’s true that the general public is never going to begin to care about being able to see the source code of the software they are using, there are several indirect benefits that the Average Joe can be confident in.

The first benefit is that it’s auditable. If you have ever read a Privacy Policy of proprietary software, you notice that there are a tons of words that basically say, “We do what we want with your data, but nothing nefarious, trust us.“

Well when the software you are using is open source, that vendor (or in many cases, project maintainer) is held to the fire. There can be major repercussions to lying about data collection, including the entire project being taken down. You may not be the one looking through the code, but there are plenty of people who do, anyone from an enthusiast to an IT person making sure the software meets their organization’s compliance needs.

Another great benefit is the software is usually hosted in more trustworthy places, if you’ve ever searched for “free” software and found yourself with toolbars on your browser and other scammy software popping up out of nowhere, you know exactly what I mean.

How do I get it?

So what do we do if we want to perform a simple task without paying for large commercial software and without getting infected? Instead of searching for “free photo editor“ try searching for “open source photo editor“ instead. This will generally direct you to a projects release page where you can download this software in all its glory without all those nasty toolbars.

Another great resource I recommend is AlternativeTo, a site that allows you to search for commercial software and gives many user-submitted recommendations for alternatives. There are also a lot of filters that you can search by including which platform you are running on (Windows, Mac, Android) and licensing (like open source).