Reddit Opens Up
Everyday it seems like I hear about another company pushing a new Open Source agenda. Today Download Squad had a great article about Reddit going opensource.
This is an amazing step for a web site. To my knowledge no other popular site has opened their codebase on this level. Sure there are lots that have open API’s but this is a very very different thing than letting someone access your data through a cloaked application layer.
Instantly closed source proponents have deemed this an ill fated move on the basis that anyone can now read the rating algorithm and there by diminish the sites value by “gaming” the system. I disagree whole heartedly with this idea. Sure people will try to deconstruct the algorithm and utilize it for their nefarious agendas but the community will respond quickly by writing a better algorithm.
A great example of this principal can be seen with Linux. Every piece of code in the operating system is available to anyone who wants it yet it continues to be the most secure operating system out there. Perhaps Firefox is a better example as it hits close to home and has a large user base(according to the W3schools.com it has almost 40% market share ). Again anyone can review the code and find exploits. This happens all the time but because there are 100′s of eyes reviewing the code these exploits are fixed almost immediately by the community.
Overall I think this is a great move on Reddit’s part. I also believe we will continue to see a large increase in the number of organizations deciding that Open Source is a viable business model.