What is Open Source Code?

When we say what is software; The concept of software, which almost everyone interested in technology has a piece of knowledge, is the essence that enables the operation of many devices that make our lives easier in our daily lives and the fulfilment of the commands given; in a simple definition, it is the essence that enables the operation of applications or systems. Software is one of the most important and valuable elements of a product. 

In software created with open source code, the source code of the software can be seen, modified and used by others. If the software of a product you use is open source, you can analyse this code yourself and test how secure it is. However, by working on this code, you can modify, improve and create new software.

So what could be the motivation to share the most important and valuable part of a product with others without monetary compensation? 

One of the 21st century's most important economic concepts is the sharing economy. The world's resources are rapidly depleting due to unsustainable consumption. Sharing what exists instead of continuous production reduces waste of resources and increases efficiency. In addition to economic motivations, sharing economy is also supported by social and environmental motivations such as transparency, reduction of carbon footprint, ensuring justice between socio-economic classes, centralisation and contribution to sustainable consumption. With this understanding, it focuses on the good of the community against individualism. 

Tesla opened its patents in the field of electric cars to everyone in 2014 and announced that it would not sue anyone who used these patents in good faith. At that time, Tesla was the leader in the field of electric cars. Because there was no one to compete with in this field, and this situation prevented the development of the market and affected the company's total profitability. In 2009, Bitcoin, which met with the whole world, also has an open source code. At that time, Bitcoin was alone and had almost no monetary value. In 2020, thousands of new cryptocurrencies have been created using Bitcoin's software. Although the value of other cryptocurrencies is far below Bitcoin, this has led to a significant increase in the overall value of the industry and network density. 

At first glance, it may be thought that sharing open source code causes economic damage and decreases profitability. However, when we look at the big picture, since the industry will develop in general with new products produced from that code, the user base will expand and as a result, competition, users, businesses and all similar stakeholders will win.