A culinary software recipe

Image by Karrie Zhu from Pixabay

Our ingredients and tips for a delicious software dish


You know, when we integrate open source tools and objects into our software projects, it's like a culinary experiment. It can taste great, but sometimes it can go to pot.

First, there's the matter of security. Imagine we're cooking a feast, but the main ingredient we're using has hidden unwanted flavors. That could ruin our whole meal! Similarly, there are security vulnerabilities in open source components that could leave our software vulnerable.

Then there's the dilemma of dependencies. Suppose we use an open source component that supports all the other parts of our recipe. But if that component suddenly becomes unsupported, the recipe could fall apart like a house of cards. Dinner is ruined.

A practical example? Think about the Log4j bug (CVE-2021-44228) called "Log4Shell" that was discovered in December 2021. The Log4j library is widely used in Java applications to manage logs. The Log4Shell bug allowed attackers to inject and execute malicious code in affected applications using a specially crafted request. This bug had a significant impact because many widely used applications and services used this library.This shows how a widely used open source component can have vulnerabilities that have potentially catastrophic effects on systems and applications.

Then we have the licensing issue. Sometimes we forget to check the license agreements. It's like a secret ingredient we didn't know was in our recipe. If we violate the license, it could lead to legal trouble. No one wants a legal battle over a license!

Finally, the community and resources. Let's say we are using a popular open source component, but the community behind it suddenly loses interest or resources. Further development stalls, and we face problems without support. This can be really unpleasant for us.

In software development, just like in the kitchen, we have to choose wisely what we use and weigh the risks. Finding a balance between the great benefits of open source and these potential challenges is the key to a delicious software dish. 😊👩‍🍳

With JOUO, we have developed a 7-course exquisite software dish for SMEs, which enables continuous monitoring of their own web infrastructure, and automatically provides a DSGVO-compliant risk analysis of the infrastructure of customers and suppliers. As powerful as the tools multinationals use for these purposes - developed by us being a SME for SMEs!

Contact me for a free initial consultation:
Rüdiger Henrici, [email protected] 

 +49 (0) 30 555797650