What is Open Source?

Open Source to me means that the line between users and developers are not so rigid. Users can always inspect the source code, and if there is a part they don’t like or a feature they think is missing, they can become a developer to contribute to the project. This has both pros and cons simultaneously. I remember learning about how a hacker contributed to the Linux xz Library for three years genuinely to gain the trust of the other contributors before installing a backdoor. This is an almost unavoidable consequence to letting anyone contribute. On the other hand, the backdoor was found and fixed because a developer using the library noticed a performance decay and inspected the source code. I think this total transparency is what makes open source unique and so important for the software community.

Open Source Projects I Use

• Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL)
• Wikipedia
• Docker
• Visual Studio Code (VS Code)
  I use WSL and Docker for my development environment as they make the environment isolated and consistent. WSL runs a Linux distribution on my Windows machine, and Docker allows me to run programs in a container. VS Code is the editor I use as it has many useful extensions. I use Wikipedia for quick searches of topics that I’m not so familar with.