But it is not all. Open Source definition is a very broad definition, and some software packages may not be usable at all without proprietary, closed and well-controlled companions. In that light, building from source is the ultimate indicator whether a software creator really gives you the right to build (and, what's more important, to patch) his/her code.
- Security: Pre-packaged program binaries and program libraries not built from the source code could contain parts that are malicious, dangerous, or just broken. Also, these are functionally impossible to patch.
- Compiler Flags: Pre-packaged program binaries and program libraries not built from the source code were probably not compiled with standard Fedora compiler flags for security and optimization.
This post was inspired by this answer on fedora-java.
Also, free software is impossible without the source.
ReplyDeleteBesides that, not everyone is going to release a build that will work on your machine (for any number of reasons) -- besides IBM PCs there are a ton of machines in the world, and even among IBM PCs, there are at least two types of machines. Say you're using a n bit version and the author has decided to -only- release m bit versions -- that effectively means you are either forced not to use it, to use it in a virtual environment or bloat your installation with extra software. All solutions no-one should ever want to pick just to be able to run a single piece of software.