Metaphors of Free Software

[Michael Kesper]

Am 23.09.2014 15:59, schrieb Hugo Roy:
> Hi,
>
> Metaphors when done right can be powerful to convey an idea.
> There’s a short article with some good metaphors:
>
> http://www.ethicalconsumer.org/ethicalreports/internetreport/whatisopensource.aspx
>
>
>          Transparency: a car.
>
>          An open source license is like having the right to lift your car
>          bonnet to view the engine. If you use software but can’t see what
>          it’s doing behind the scenes, then it’s impossible to know what
>          it’s doing with your data or even if it’s secure. By making code
>          viewable by all, it’s much easier to spot and fix security flaws
>          and bugs, which is why many security standards, such as password
>          encryption, are open source.

Not a very good metaphor, mixing up things.
Transparency is good for "fiddling", hacking something (engine tuning 
could be the metaphor).
We all know now (heartbleed, latest bash bug) definitely nobody should 
believe just making something visible would be enough for making it 
secure. It's a necessary precondition for being able to check code by 
third parties, but not a sufficient one.

Bye
Michael