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What is the meaning of close source? (lemy.lol)

submitted 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I mean can't someone steal code from the devices file manager? or create his own fork?(Sorry for bad English)

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 day ago

Source code is like the recipe to create a program. Compiling the source code is like cooking or baking a recipe.

You can look at the end result and attempt to reverse engineer how it was made, and might even be able to produce a copy that is indistinguishable from the original. Without the original recipe/source code, you'll never know for sure if there is anything missing from your reproduction however.

Open source code is like a recipe that is posted freely online or otherwise openly distributed. Closed source code is like a proprietary recipe that is only known by one company/restaurant.