Does open source software enhance security?
The Register’s Drew Cullen says: “Analysis There are several reasons why open-source software provides for superior computer and network security, but the computing public seems confused about why this is so. “Many attribute the security advantage to the very fact of openness. It’s long been popular to cite the ‘many eyes’ theory, which holds that flaws are discovered and fixed because selfless programmers spend countless hours carefully combing through the source code and alerting the development teams. In this way, we’re told, the mere fact that source code is available leads to enhanced security…… “It’s beyond dispute that open source systems are potentially more secure than Windows, but the most important advantages don’t come from openness per se. They come instead from the coincidence that open source systems, like Linux and BSD, are modeled on UNIX, which is designed in a more modular fashion than Windows. Such systems are more transparent to the user or administrator, and h
