Level 2
You can put your project on GitHub as public. So other developers can contribute to it. And people can use it for themselves and customize it.
May 4, 2020
7
Level 15
Can I make my project open source
Hi Guys,
I am working on a project which is an eLearning portal. It is a project I will be hosting and hoping people will use, but I want to make the source code public so other people can contribute, and setup their own eLearning portals if they wish.
It is a laravel project, which I have been working on for some time, but I am concerned around making it public. As people will have accounts on the website, and I worry that if there are errors, which have potential security issues, releasing the source code might be dangerous. I am pretty confident its secure, but I still have concerns.
Is this something I should make open source, or something I should keep private and just invite developers who wish to contribute to the private repo?
Any thoughts or insight would be greatly appreciated.
Level 15
I know I can do it, I just wonder around the safety and security implications of doing it.
If I release the source code, and then there happens to be a secuity exploit which I am unaware of, which results in everyone with accounts getting hacked - that would be bad, and by showing everyone the source code, I am opening myself up to problems?
Level 2
As much I know we use authentication system and restricting some routes for accessing based on role so the don't delete any data not related to them.
Also CSRF token is used to make sure third party didn't breach the Laravel security.
Level 122
I think you are possibly worrying about the wrong thing. There are loads of soft targets out there for hackers to have a go at rather than searching through your github repository looking for weaknesses.
eg https://www.reddit.com/r/laravel/comments/9o3zk2/some_env_files_are_being_indexed_by_search_engines/
Maybe there are others more interested in the code. Students perhaps, looking to game the system, boost their score or access the platform without subscription (if applicable).
But yes, you should open source it, then I could just use it to bid for
or you could bid for it if it sounds similar ;-)
1 like
Level 15
Well, I intend the platform to be free of charge for all to use, the idea is anyone can contribute learning material, makes learning accessible for everyone at all levels. I have a few more changes I want to make before I put it on a live server and then I will make the Repo public :)
Cheers for the advice guys!
1 like
Level 15
@snapey - thanks for your advice, I put the repo public moments ago - still lots to do, but its my first public repo, baby steps! https://github.com/Drewdan/learningvault
Level 122
Good luck with it!
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