Open source, open science, and cryptography

In the world of technology, open source refers to software which is made publicly available, and is free for anyone to use or modify. It is a very popular approach to software development, enabling an open and community engagement to building software projects.

One of the main advantages of open source is transparency, a property that is widely embraced by tech enthusiasts. Open source code means that anyone can inspect the code before usage, meaning that anyone could spot malicious, or broken, code. This is a perfect example of the mantra “Don't trust, verify”, which is popular in various technology spaces.

One of the main drawbacks of open source is considered to be lack of interested involvement from external developers. Many projects typically start with one, or a few, developers – and this base can struggle to grow, leading to a low “bus-factor” (dependency on too few developers) for the ...