ELI5, Why is Open Source Software considered safe if it can be accessed and changed by anyone?
In: Technology
Anyone can download it to their computer and change it, but the change is just on their computer. They can even put the changed version up on their website, because it’s their website. They can’t put the changed version on the program’s real website, unless the people in charge of the website give them permission.
So really it’s no different from any other software. If you get the version from the official website then you’re getting the official version. If you get the version from some random person’s website then you might be getting a virus.
If the change is good, the official developers may *look at what changed* and decide to put that change in the official version. They don’t just do it automatically without looking at it. If someone asks the official developers to put a change in, and the change is a virus, they’ll say hell no.
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