A few tricks for assessing the security of an open source project.

There is a rather progressive sect of the software development world called the open source community.

This community believes that most people would be a lot happier and get a lot more work done if they stopped building things that someone else has already built and offered up for free use. They want you to take their stuff.

Besides existing without you having to lift a finger, open source tools and software have some distinct advantages. Especially in the case of well-established projects, it’s highly likely that someone else has already worked out all the most annoying bugs for you.

Thanks to the ease with which users can view and modify source code, it’s also more likely that a program has been tinkered with, improved, and secured over time.

When many developers contribute, they bring their own unique expertise and experiences. This can result in a product far more robust and capable than one a single developer can produce.

Of course, being as varied as the people who build them, not all open source projects are created equal, nor maintained to be equally secure.

There are many factors that affect a project’s suitability for your use case. Here are a few general considerations that make a good starting point when choosing an open source project.

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