Open Source refers to open source software (OSS) which is publicly accessible. It is developed in a decentralised and collaborative way. Anyone can see, modify or distribute the code. It relies on peer review and community production. Such software is flexible and economical. It lasts longer than its proprietary versions. It saves costs.

Open sourcing allows people to suggest improvements or point out issues. They also use the code under a license to develop similar products. Indian government’s policy allows the use of source code of any government application and such use will be free from royalty. Co-Win, India’s digital vaccination platform, is to be open source. Red Hat is the world’s leading open source software solutions company. Another name for open source is FOSS — free and open-source software. Aadhar and UPI use open source technology. GST too uses it, but the code has not been opened for the larger community to assess. The government fears that opening up the entire code of an app or platform makes it vulnerable to attack.

In proprietary software there is black-box testing. In open source, there can be much more scope than black-box testing as the code is open. A fresh examination can identify securities issues better.