NASA’s new dark energy space telescope can also detect killer asteroids
technologyreview.com·2h ago
Cloud & Infrastructure
The New Stack·20d ago·5 min read
Elon Musk: “We will make the entire codebase of X open source, with no exceptions.”
TL;DR
Elon Musk announced that X will open-source its entire codebase after completing a security review. This initiative aims to enhance transparency and trust in the platform.
✦ Why It Matters
Engineers can start preparing for open-source contributions by familiarizing themselves with X's codebase and security protocols.
Key Takeaways
- Stay updated on X's codebase release timeline.
- Prepare to analyze the open-source architecture for insights.
- Consider contributing to X's infrastructure if open-source is realized.
- Evaluate how this transparency shift impacts your development practices.
Full Summary
Elon Musk, the owner of X, plans to make the platform's entire codebase open-source, pending a security vulnerability review. This initiative follows previous steps toward transparency, including the release of parts of its recommendation algorithm.
By inviting independent reviewers to verify that the published code matches the live system, X aims to address a common criticism of corporate open-source projects: the lack of assurance that the released code is what is actually in use. If successful, this would set a new standard for transparency in social media, contrasting with competitors like Meta and TikTok, which keep their core systems proprietary.
Developers will gain access to a large-scale social media architecture, potentially allowing for community contributions similar to established open-source projects. This could shift industry expectations regarding platform transparency.