Would you use Bitcoin if it was proprietary/closed source software?

[d5000]

I would like to know if it's important for the community that Bitcoin is open source software.

I will not give my opinion here to avoid influencing the poll result (at least not in the OP or first couple of thread replies).

You can reply to this poll and give your own opinion about that topic in a comment. (It's not self-moderated, so as long as you respect the forum rules, all comments are welcome.)


Some clarifications:

Open source software in this poll refers to software that respects the Open Source Definition of the Open Source Initiative. In short, as defined on Wikipedia:

Open-source software (OSS) is computer software with its source code made available with a license in which the copyright holder provides the rights to study, change, and distribute the software to anyone and for any purpose.

Shared source or source-available software software (option 2) is software where the source code is shared or provided, but some of the requirements of the Open Source Definition are not met. For example, if the source code is provided but it isn't allowed to publish an improved/changed version or there are restrictions on changing it, then we're talking about "shared source", not "open source".

Proprietary software is all software that doesn't respect the Open Source Definition, including Shared Source.

[Quantus]

Fuck no.

[Trophonius]

Yes, I've​ never had the idea of like: "Hmmmm lets just read the source code etc.". I've never thought about it.

So why should I care if it was closed? It would be the same for me.

[OmegaStarScream]

As long as you can tell If the software has no backdoors, It's truly using the P2P protocol and Its decentralized, untraceable, secure then I will keep using it (I believe that the case with Open-source only If I understood the given definitions).

[BitcoinHodler]

Yes, I've​ never had the idea of like: "Hmmmm lets just read the source code etc.". I've never thought about it.

So why should I care if it was closed? It would be the same for me.

then you haven't really understood what open source means.
it is not about you and i being able to understand the code, it is about being OPEN and available to ANYONE to see.

that means if there is anything bad going on in the code, it will be found and caught at some point by someone. and you will hear about it.
also that means if there is some bug or simply some improvement needed in some part of that code, it can be done easily and the best way possible.

also another thing about most open source projects (bitcoin included) is their license. being MIT license means it doesn't belong to anyone, nobody can patent it and anyone can use the code, change it and come up with a new idea (aka altcoins).

[dinofelis]

The minimum requirement for cryptographic software is shared source.  The very idea of using cryptographic software of which not a large spectrum of independent auditors can look at it, is broken.  Open source is of course better, but from the moment that you can inspect the source code (and make sure that you can compile it yourself !), it can be acceptable as cryptographic medium.

[Trophonius]

Yes, I've​ never had the idea of like: "Hmmmm lets just read the source code etc.". I've never thought about it.

So why should I care if it was closed? It would be the same for me.

then you haven't really understood what open source means.
it is not about you and i being able to understand the code, it is about being OPEN and available to ANYONE to see.

that means if there is anything bad going on in the code, it will be found and caught at some point by someone. and you will hear about it.
also that means if there is some bug or simply some improvement needed in some part of that code, it can be done easily and the best way possible.

also another thing about most open source projects (bitcoin included) is their license. being MIT license means it doesn't belong to anyone, nobody can patent it and anyone can use the code, change it and come up with a new idea (aka altcoins).

I know what opensource is and means.

But still, my grandfather won't know and he doesn't care if it's opensource of not. As a regular consumer it doesn't really matter.

No one can claim ownership of it, is nice and stuff. But if a company would make the same thing as BTC. Exactly the same but then not opensource, i would still use it.

So will all the people who do not know what opensource means.

[Quantus]

People who select option 1 or 2 should not be allowed to procreate.

[BitcoinHodler]

Yes, I've​ never had the idea of like: "Hmmmm lets just read the source code etc.". I've never thought about it.

So why should I care if it was closed? It would be the same for me.

then you haven't really understood what open source means.
it is not about you and i being able to understand the code, it is about being OPEN and available to ANYONE to see.

that means if there is anything bad going on in the code, it will be found and caught at some point by someone. and you will hear about it.
also that means if there is some bug or simply some improvement needed in some part of that code, it can be done easily and the best way possible.

also another thing about most open source projects (bitcoin included) is their license. being MIT license means it doesn't belong to anyone, nobody can patent it and anyone can use the code, change it and come up with a new idea (aka altcoins).

I know what opensource is and means.

But still, my grandfather won't know and he doesn't care if it's opensource of not. As a regular consumer it doesn't really matter.

No one can claim ownership of it, is nice and stuff. But if a company would make the same thing as BTC. Exactly the same but then not opensource, i would still use it.

So will all the people who do not know what opensource means.

so you want to tell me that if bitcoin was closed source and was created by a private company, you would have used bitcoin and put your money in it (we are talking about all your private finances and all the transactions you make, how much money you have and how you use it) and then each time you sent a transaction you never cared about the "data" you send out and where it goes and what it is? and don't care that that "data" can contain all your private information in it such as the things i said in parenthesis and your IP address,...?

[Trophonius]

Yes, I've​ never had the idea of like: "Hmmmm lets just read the source code etc.". I've never thought about it.

So why should I care if it was closed? It would be the same for me.

then you haven't really understood what open source means.
it is not about you and i being able to understand the code, it is about being OPEN and available to ANYONE to see.

that means if there is anything bad going on in the code, it will be found and caught at some point by someone. and you will hear about it.
also that means if there is some bug or simply some improvement needed in some part of that code, it can be done easily and the best way possible.

also another thing about most open source projects (bitcoin included) is their license. being MIT license means it doesn't belong to anyone, nobody can patent it and anyone can use the code, change it and come up with a new idea (aka altcoins).

I know what opensource is and means.

But still, my grandfather won't know and he doesn't care if it's opensource of not. As a regular consumer it doesn't really matter.

No one can claim ownership of it, is nice and stuff. But if a company would make the same thing as BTC. Exactly the same but then not opensource, i would still use it.

So will all the people who do not know what opensource means.

so you want to tell me that if bitcoin was closed source and was created by a private company, you would have used bitcoin and put your money in it (we are talking about all your private finances and all the transactions you make, how much money you have and how you use it) and then each time you sent a transaction you never cared about the "data" you send out and where it goes and what it is? and don't care that that "data" can contain all your private information in it such as the things i said in parenthesis and your IP address,...?

Couldn't care less. Aslong as it's an honest company who doesn't sell my information I don't care.

I mean, living without a bank account or something like that. Is almost impossible, but I (and a lot of people) still use bank accounts.

Same as with Bitcoins, in my opinion.

[eternalgloom]

Yes, I've​ never had the idea of like: "Hmmmm lets just read the source code etc.". I've never thought about it.

So why should I care if it was closed? It would be the same for me.

then you haven't really understood what open source means.
it is not about you and i being able to understand the code, it is about being OPEN and available to ANYONE to see.

that means if there is anything bad going on in the code, it will be found and caught at some point by someone. and you will hear about it.
also that means if there is some bug or simply some improvement needed in some part of that code, it can be done easily and the best way possible.

also another thing about most open source projects (bitcoin included) is their license. being MIT license means it doesn't belong to anyone, nobody can patent it and anyone can use the code, change it and come up with a new idea (aka altcoins).

I know what opensource is and means.

But still, my grandfather won't know and he doesn't care if it's opensource of not. As a regular consumer it doesn't really matter.

No one can claim ownership of it, is nice and stuff. But if a company would make the same thing as BTC. Exactly the same but then not opensource, i would still use it.

So will all the people who do not know what opensource means.

so you want to tell me that if bitcoin was closed source and was created by a private company, you would have used bitcoin and put your money in it (we are talking about all your private finances and all the transactions you make, how much money you have and how you use it) and then each time you sent a transaction you never cared about the "data" you send out and where it goes and what it is? and don't care that that "data" can contain all your private information in it such as the things i said in parenthesis and your IP address,...?

Couldn't care less. Aslong as it's an honest company who doesn't sell my information I don't care.

I mean, living without a bank account or something like that. Is almost impossible, but I (and a lot of people) still use bank accounts.

Same as with Bitcoins, in my opinion.

You'd be surprised how many companies do sell your information, especially if they're offering a service 'for free'.

I'm not sure if something like Bitcoin would even work if it was closed source? How could you even trust it if everything was closed source.
Even if it was shared-source, I'm having a hard time believing that many people would be into it. There certainly wouldn't be as much altcoins as there are now.

[Coding Enthusiast]

Closed source software era is coming to an end. Everything is moving towards a more open-sourced code. All the previously closed source software are even starting to release their code, realizing that is the new world.
For example Microsoft has been releasing .Net Framework source code for some time now.

And for something so sensitive as bitcoin which deals with a lot of money and should have certain aspects such as decentralization must be 100% open source.

[Lauda]

I'd rather live in a money-less society than switch over from centralized dirty fiat into another centralized form of money. Bitcoin as a closed source software could impose all kinds of mallicious things, as in:
1) Tracking ALL transactions and users.
2) Stealing your money for whatever reason.
3) Producing any amount of money very quickly (uncontrollable inflation).
4) Censoring/blocking your transactions for whatever reason.
These are just a few things of many that can be done.

[fikihafana]

There're many condition if i want to use bitcoin althought it's close source, as we know we can trust everyone on the net. We dont know if someone lying or not if they wont a give us a source code. With source code we can check and verify technical issue, how we can check technical issue without a source code?

[d5000]

As long as you can tell If the software has no backdoors, It's truly using the P2P protocol and Its decentralized, untraceable, secure then I will keep using it (I believe that the case with Open-source only If I understood the given definitions).

In this case, you could vote also for the "shared source" option. There the code is also viewable for everyone so you could spot backdoors, but there are restrictions to re-use it (e.g. some shared source licenses like the one used by the Steem altcoin prohibit clones on alternative chains). That's why I included that option.

For me, I've voted for option 3 (my reasoning for it and my rejection to "shared source" will come later) and I like the result so far, but there could be more participation.

[thejaytiesto]

Hell no, it is total nonsense to use closed source software, specially when it comes to software that is supposed to keep your money safe. The closed source software could easily contain code that sends your coins to the creator. It's just stupid, no questions asked.

[swogerino]

No, not at all. It is like going from Linux back to Windows operating system. In Linux you are working in a free-of-viruses environment and usually every bug or software hole is patched within few hours while in Windows you are expecting Microsoft to fix issues through their updates which takes a lot of time and you are open to attacks from all sides.

No I would never use bitcoin if it was closed sourced.

[Kprawn]

Never, We have seen what people like Mike Hearn had tried with Bitcoin XT and lately what BU developers have done. I would much rather see

a OpenSource protocol where every line of code can be scrutinized by peer review. This way bugs and backdoors can be identified early and we

will know our investment are safe from the greedy people of this world. 

[BitDane]

Well it would be hypocrisy if I say no, I have been using lots of closed source software ever since I am a teenager, and the window software I am using atm is a closed source, even the Microsoft office I am using is not open source, the system banks are using are not open source too, so I guess I will be using Bitcoin even if it is closed source software since developers had established their reputation and most of the community trust them.

[Harry Callahan]

Everyone became interested about bitcoin in the beginning is simply because it is an open source software model and if it was a closed source no one would care to invest in it in the first place and like lauda mentioned , Producing any amount of money very quickly and tracking the users are an issue that will come with closed source or centralized structures.