What Is Open Source?

In the 1990s, when desktop computers became popular, software developers provided disks with compiled code that could be installed onto the user’s computer. Compiled code includes files with instructions that allow an operating system to dedicate computer resources and execute developer procedures. The byte code (for interpreted languages) or opcode (for compiled languages) is the language that computers can understand, and it’s used to carry out developer instructions.

As an example, the following code could be a part of a codebase:

if (active)
//do something

Humans easily understand this small snippet of pseudocode, but computers don’t understand human languages. Computers understand ones and zeros, so developers use compilers to convert the human language code into executables. Executables are used by the operating system to allocate memory, initialize variables, data, and the opcodes that make up the program itself. Compiled files are specific to an operating system because each operating system has different ways to make calls to internal procedures.

Because executables are compiled, humans cannot understand the instructions in the executable file. If you only have executable files, you cannot see the code itself unless you have a good de-compiler. This protects the copywritten developer code that cannot be analyzed or stolen by a third party.

Open-source communities work differently by freely disclosing an application’s source code. The idea is that while the code could be stolen, the benefit of sharing code for analysis and expansion is far greater. Users can freely see the code to learn from it or improve upon it. Open-source code can be forked, which means another developer takes a copy of it and adds features to it. Some analysts review code for potential bugs and cybersecurity vulnerabilities and alert the original developer.

Just because open-source software developers publish their code does not mean it can be freely copied and used. Open-source developers define the type of license that applies to their code when the codebase is published. Licensing in the open-source world is similar to closed-source licenses in that licenses define the way code can be used, copied, changed, and distributed. For instance, some open-source licenses allow academics, students, and individuals to freely use code, but businesses must not use the codebase in commercial applications.

With more contributors to the codebase, the software has better features, fewer bugs, and continual updates. It allows small developers to compete with more prominent brands by giving them a platform to distribute software and share it with others who can help improve it. For developers, it’s a great way to learn coding standards and identify better ways to code a particular procedure.

For users, most of the benefits lie with the stability and security of code. Users receive a compiled version of code that runs on their local machines, but with so many developers contributing, fewer bugs are likely. Cybersecurity analysts commonly download code to review it and alert developers of problems. Bigger open-source developers publish projects on whitehat hacking sites where they pay hackers to find vulnerabilities in their code. Using paid hackers results in open-source software that contains fewer vulnerabilities, which protects users from malicious attackers and malware that exploit unknown issues.

Major software such as operating systems that stay open-source makes it easier for developers to port their software from one operating system to another. With Windows, developers are tied to the latest operating system updates and changes and only know if their software will work on the latest changes by testing the code on the most recent version. With Linux, developers can more easily convert existing code that runs on Windows with the Linux operating system.