Ingres Attacks Open Source Security Myths

If you believe open source is less secure than closed-source software, Ingres (ranked No. 8 in The VAR Guy’s Open Source 50) has a message for you. The open source database specialist is going viral with a low-budget (but effective…) video, which attempts to kill the myth that open source is not secure.

Here’s the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8TABdN9-AQ

The VAR Guy is not suggesting that open source is always more secure than closed source. But generally speaking, you’d think thousands of hackers probing open source code is a good way to weed out bugs and security holes.

In the closed-source world, software companies can only spend so much time and money addressing security holes. At some point in the closed-source world, somewhere after 80 percent or so of the bugs have been found, it takes too much time and money to cost-effectively track down the remaining 20 percent or so of bugs. It’s the law of diminishing returns.

Back in the open source world, there’s always another well-meaning hacker waiting in the wings to look at source code, report a bug and offer a fix.

The VAR Guy’s ultimate take: Is open source less or more secure than closed source? It depends on the project. How’s that for a politically correct answer.

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