Learn the difference between open source software and closed source software and which is better!
When we talk about applications or programs, whether for the computer or the phone, we are indirectly talking about two things and no third, which is the source of this program, and when I say the source I mean the lines of code for the program or application , are they available to the public or are they hidden and private only to their owner , and let us not forget that we currently use open source programs such as Firefox and the Linux system and others, and other closedsource onessuch as Google Chrome and Windows.
For PROPRIETARY closed source software:
When a regular user downloads a program (Google Chrome, for example) they usually download an installer file that unpacks the program and installs it on the user's system , from there the user will access the program using the executable file (.exe) or through a shortcut to it , and these executable files are created by thousands of lines of code from the source.
In the example above, you see the basic source code of a program written in the Python programming language. To the untrained eye, this may look complex, confusing, and perhaps even completely incomprehensible. This is the source code, however, and it contains a set of commands and statements that are eventually compiled into an executable program. Once the executable is created, you no longer need the source code.
So when you run a program like Google Chrome, you don’t see the source code that was written to create the program. You only see the final product. This is what is called closed source software, or proprietary software, meaning you don’t have access to the code.
Open source software,
on the other hand, is software that is bundled with its source code in a release . Sometimes the developer compiles an executable from the source code and releases it together , and other times the developer releases just the source code and leaves it up to the user to compile the final product.
Either way, this is what open source software is: software where the source code is open (public) rather than closed (private).
When source code is made public, novice programmers can read and learn from it, enhancing their programming abilities. Like a library that leaves knowledge open to anyone interested enough to grab it, open source software helps educate, innovate, and inspire.