this post was submitted on 06 Jul 2023
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Connect for Lemmy App
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Just curious if it becomes open source are you going to inspect the source code?
Not OP, but I'd like to contribute if possible. I am a developer and I am quite experienced in building both Android and web apps. IMO the biggest upside of the software being open source is not that the code is auditable (although that is definitely a plus as well) but that others can contribute to the development of the application as well.
If the dev wants to monetize the app later on, they can still have an open source "core" but bolt on "premium" features that can be proprietary. Think of Chromium and Chrome or (ironically) CentOS and RHEL. It also increases the bus factor as others can take up the mantle if the current dev no longer can/wants to maintain the app.
Yes, i am sometimes changing things for myself i f i dont like something in a app.
Ahh okay very cool then, I see so many people saying they want open source yet don’t know how to read it anyway, myself included
Good to know if I had any skill I’d do the same
Open Source is not just for people that know how to code. If the project is a bigger project other people review the code and point things out that are wrong. So everybody is profiting from Open Source Project not just people that understand and read the code. I for example can code in java, kotlin and dart. So i can look at android apps and know if i can trust them. If i see something suspicious i would point it out. But i dont know Rust for example. But someone else does and points out if something is wrong. Thats the beauty of Open Source Software.
I get the benefits of open source I was just pointing out it’s kind of like TOS documents most people don’t actually read them we just rely on others to do it for us and tell us if it’s okay, I was curious if you were someone who actually understands the code
Which again both of those instances apply to me too, I can’t read code and I def don’t read through terms of service
I don't code either and I am not that technically minded with any kind of software code
I think the thing with Open Source Software is a system of trust with developers and users .. by keeping things out in the open, the developers are basically telling everyone that their work is freely open to be scrutinized by those with the ability to review the work .. it also keeps the developers careful as they know that their work can be taken, reproduced, changed, manipulated and repurposed .. everyone is taking a risk and basing everything on trust with one another by being Open Source
Otherwise it is closed source and users are not able to decipher what is happening with the software and users are not aware of what is being done or for what reason and users have to trust that the developer is fair minded, moral and trustworthy.
To me Open Source means everyone trusting one another ... developers and users trusting each other
Closed Source only allows trust to run one way ... the users trusting the developer (which can be a monolithic company ... and how much can you trust a company?)
Open source isn't just about auditing the source. Sometimes a bug might be found that the developer might not have the time to fix so someone else with the know-how can contribute the changes to fix the bug. Some goes for any features/enhancements that would be nice to be added