What is open source? Common myths about website security

Open source is a common concept in web design and software development, and it plays an important part in how technology advances. You hear about it a lot when you research websites, and new developers run into it early. Yet even though it is so common, many people misunderstand what it really means. So what is open source? Are you misunderstanding it too? This article answers those questions. You can also watch and listen to a detailed explanation in the MONA video below, or read on if you prefer text.

1. What is open source?

Open source is a term

Put simply, open source means software whose code is publicly available. Anyone can use it for free, download it, modify it, customize it and contribute back to the software's community. For example, say you use an open-source program A and build a new piece of code with outstanding features. You can share it with everyone who uses program A. That is what contributing to a shared project means.

Programming has many terms with the word “open”, such as open operating systems and open game engines. Here, “open” has nothing to do with technology, structure or who made the software. It has only one meaning, and it is a legal one. Open-source code can be used commercially without paying royalties, and no one has the right to file a claim against you.

So with open source you can use the features freely, with no need to deal with whoever created the code.

Some examples of open source

Some open programming languages include PHP and Java. There are also “partially open” languages such as .NET. It is actually open, but users pay indirectly by buying the Windows operating system, since it does not run on macOS.

Next to open game engines, some tools are not open source, such as Unity. If you build a game with it, you can use it freely but you cannot sell the game. The moment you sell it, the store can receive a copyright report and take the link down, and the game is gone. To make money from it you have to buy a license from the owner of the engine.

2. Common misunderstandings about open source

Most people outside programming believe open versus closed source is about security and what the code can do. That is one of the biggest misunderstandings you can have.

If you build a website with open-source software, will it get hacked?

This is wrong, and once again MONA states clearly that it is completely wrong. Open-source software itself has no security problem.

Many people mistake it for a hole that lets hackers into a website.

But a hacked website has nothing to do with open source. Security holes come from the theme and plugins. MONA explains this in detail in section 3 of this article.

Open-source software has no security

This is a seriously wrong belief. In fact, open source is very secure. The proof is that open-source code runs most of the Internet. Large companies such as Google, Microsoft and IBM are big examples of businesses that run on open source.

So security is the top priority for open source. This matters most when many users share server access. Without safety, server data can be stolen quickly, with extremely serious consequences.

In practice, open-source software is not 100% safe. But only one or two large-scale attacks on servers have ever been carried out, and right after them, data protection measures were put in place to stop hackers and prevent losses.

Open source is tied to structure and programming technique

Open source has nothing to do with structure or programming technique. Take this example of a programming technique:

.NET code works by compiling all of a user's code files into a DLL. No software can decompile that DLL back, so no one can know how you wrote the code.

However, whether code can be compiled this way has nothing to do with the source. It is not true that closed-source code can be compiled for protection while open-source code cannot. Compiling code for protection depends on the structure and working principles of the software itself, not on the source.

(In practice, compiling code is not that significant in the industry. Every programmer knows how to do it. The question is only whether they have the time and people. So saying open source is tied to structure or technique is completely wrong.)

Open source has limited features

Open source does not mean software with a few free features. It has no access limits. Users can download it freely and use every function without paying license fees.

3. Why is “open source makes a website insecure” wrong?

In practice, claiming that open source used to build a website makes the site less secure is wrong. If it holds at all, it holds only in a small way. Open source is read and studied by so many people that they know its security principles well.

To analyze this, split a website into two parts: the CMS, and the theme and plugins. The CMS alone covers about 60% of the common functions of your website, such as media management, user management and the editor. The CMS has excellent security because millions of developers have worked on fixing and improving it.

The problem website security lies in the plugins and themes. The theme is the website's look. Themes and plugins are made in three ways: custom code, buying ready-made code (often called a template), or downloading free versions online. The problem lies in how these parts are made.

• First, when you download a free copy from somewhere on social media. Of course you cannot know where it came from or whether it is as “clean” as you think. Using it to build a website indirectly hands hackers a chance to break in.
• Second, when you do pay for it but buy from a source that is not reputable. A theme is only a functional part and cannot protect itself. When the person who wrote the theme did not follow common security standards, that is what causes the holes. When you buy it, you also cannot check whether the code follows those standards or how good the plugin is.
• Third, custom code. This usually happens when the developer is not skilled enough or lacks experience. If the code does not follow security principles, it creates holes in the website.
• One more case that leaves a website exposed is when your mua Hosting is not reputable. A single unsafe hosting account on a server can expose every other account on it.

In fact, all four ways of creating a security hole have nothing to do with open or closed source. It is a misunderstanding that many people share.

4. Benefits of open source for development

Completely free

As mentioned, open-source software is completely free. You can use it for commercial purposes without paying license fees. With open-source software, users are not controlled by the vendor. That avoids the situation, common in proprietary software, where some features or files are hidden.

Developers who use open-source software also avoid the risk of buying licensed software and then getting no support from the vendor after a while. There are many reasons this happens. But whether the reason is the vendor's choice or circumstance, the result is the same: without support, users cannot keep using the software, or if they want to continue they must pay extra.

A flexible source system

It has to be said that when you build applications on open source, fixing errors is much faster than with licensed software. If a developer finds an error while finishing a project, they can fix it right away. With licensed software it is different: users must report the problem to the vendor and fix it only after getting their permission.

For example, when a developer wants to add features or extend an application built on open-source software, they can adjust, add or remove custom code without asking permission, reporting, or waiting for a reply from the vendor. This shows how flexible open-source software is.

Excellent security

As said above, the security holes are not in the open source itself. Imagine open-source software developed for a very long time by a community of developers, including many talented programmers from around the world. It is checked, bug-fixed and extended again and again. Before anyone adds a new feature to open-source software, safety is always raised and tested first. Otherwise the feature would weaken the software's safety.

Whenever hackers find a security hole in open source, developers quickly come up with different fixes. Open source is considered very secure because a large community around the world uses it together.

A large support community

Naturally, the more people use something, the bigger its support community. Open-source software that developers really need is also public and free to use. The community is estimated at several million people.

Whenever users have a question or need help with the software, they can ask the community. What could be better than being stuck and getting help from people who have been through it? It is a valuable and free resource.

No limit on creativity

Because it is free in “open” form, many developers have used it to build useful software. It lets designers and developers be creative and test their own ideas.

Open-source software also reduces dependence on vendors, unlike proprietary source code.

5. Popular open-source applications today

Open source is not the name of a piece of software. It is a term for software that users can use for free, and it is an essential part of modern technology. It is the main earner for big brands such as Microsoft, Google and Red Hat. Open-source software can produce the following applications:

The Linux operating system

Usually we only hear the names of operating systems like Microsoft Windows and macOS. But these are not open operating systems. The simple proof is that when you reinstall Windows on your computer, you usually pay a license fee. Sometimes users are limited by the rules of that license, which causes some difficulties.

Linux, released in 1991, gave developers more choices. Linux is an application on an open-source platform. That means it is completely free, and you can use it freely for commercial purposes without paying anything. Of course, users also get all of Linux's special features for free. For example, you can use OpenOffice instead of Microsoft Office, which includes a word processor (Writer, similar to Word) and a spreadsheet (Calc, similar to Excel), among others.

The PHP and Java programming languages

Programming languages are an essential part of software development. Developers cannot rely on just one language, because each one offers only certain features. To cover a range of functions, developers need to know several languages.

PHP and Java are programming languages that run on an open-source platform. They are free to use, with no feature limits, simple structure, a rich body of reference documentation and a strong support community. This is why 85% of websites in the world are built in these languages.

WordPress in website design

WordPress is a free open-source program that is hugely popular, used by 25% of websites worldwide. WordPress is also written in the open-source language PHP. WordPress is popular not only because it is free, but because it is a content management system (CMS), one of the main tools for building websites. Because it is built on open source, WordPress has all the qualities of open-source software: easy to use, suited to a broad audience, visual editing, good security, and flexible, stable operation.

If you are not a professional developer but want to build a website for yourself or your company, WordPress is a great idea. Besides being free, it is supported by millions of skilled developers. That means you can find an answer to any question you run into while building your site.

That does not mean WordPress is only for people who care little about technology. In fact, many developers around the world contribute to it. They have studied and used WordPress to build famous websites such as CNN, BBC America and Variety.

GIMP as a replacement for Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop is closed-source software. Every year its vendor collects millions of dollars in license fees. If you are a software designer, you have probably come across GIMP when you were starting out.

GIMP does not have many strengths and is not clearly better than Photoshop. It is free and has functions similar to CS3. However, it is only for beginners who don't want to spend money on Photoshop for basic functions. If you are a new designer, choosing free GIMP is a sensible step.

That is everything about open source. And once again, MONA states that saying a website built on open source is easy to hack is completely wrong, based on how programming works in practice. We hope this article gave readers useful information.