One of the looming questions within the blockchain community is how “open” blockchain software should be. Although all of the major blockchains emerged to date, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, are open source and transparent, it is possible to create blockchains that are closed. It is equally possible to build distributed applications with proprietary codebases, even if they’re built on top of an open source blockchain.

Although the open-vs.-closed conversation in the blockchain space is still in its early stages, Po.et has adopted a clear stance in favor of the open source model as it builds a platform for managing digital media using a distributed ledger. In addition to embracing an open source software license for its own code and using open source blockchains as its foundation, Po.et is embedding itself strongly within the open source ecosystem in other ways. This article explains how.

Openness and Open Source for Blockchains

In its conventional definition, “open source” refers to software whose source code is publicly available for anyone to download, view and (in most cases) modify.

The Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains are open source in the sense that the code that powers them is open source.

If you take a broader approach to the definition of open source, you could also say that these blockchains are open because they are transparent, publicly auditable, and are not controlled by a centralized entity. In a word, they are “open.”

Po.et’s Open Source Commitment

Po.et is founded on a commitment to open source code, as well as “open” principles writ large. That commitment manifests itself in several ways.

Po.et Licensing

The code that powers Po.et’s distributed ledger technology is licensed under an MIT License. The MIT License is one of the most popular and most permissive open source licenses. It makes source code available for anyone to download, use or extend in virtually any way they wish.

In keeping with the liberal terms of the MIT License and a commitment to open access, the Po.et application source code is available on GitHub for anyone to download. So is the source code for other parts of the Po.et platform, such as the web frontend, or WordPress plugin for integrating WordPress with the Po.et network to facilitate seamless management of digital content.

Po.et’s Open Source Blockchain Foundation

As noted above, the blockchain ecosystem is not entirely open or open source. Yet Po.et sits squarely within the segment of the open part of the blockchain world. It is designed to rely only on blockchain technology and other distributed software that are themselves open source.

These include the Bitcoin blockchain, which Po.et uses to record Proof of Existence data. By leveraging the Bitcoin blockchain, Po.et ensures that data regarding digital asset ownership is stored in a transparent and immutable way. In addition, because Bitcoin is an open blockchain, Po.et users and developers need not worry about future incompatibility or support problems that could impact closed blockchains in the event that their owners choose to stop maintaining them. Bitcoin also offers the greatest hashing power for maximizing Po.et performance.

Po.et also uses Ethereum, another major open source blockchain. Ethereum serves as the foundation for Po.et’s ERC20-compatible token. In addition, Po.et developers are considering hashing Proof-of-Existence into the Ethereum blockchain in the future.

Another core technology for Po.et is IPFS (InterPlanetary File System), an open source distributed file system. Designed to enable data to be shared in a decentralized, peer-to-peer fashion, IPFS also creates a permanent record of data. This is an important feature for ensuring the transparent and reliable management of digital assets, and one that is missing from conventional data transfer protocols, such as HTTP.

Open Source Technology Stack

Beyond blockchain-specific software, Po.et also relies on several major open source platforms and frameworks to drive its technology stack. These include Node.js, TypeScript, RabbitMQ, MongoDB, React, Sass.

By building the Po.et software stack using popular open source frameworks, the Po.et Foundation ensures that developers can contribute to Po.et easily, without having to learn obscure proprietary frameworks. The open source framework should also give Po.et users confidence that the Po.et platform will not stop working due to a change in one of the upstream frameworks on which Po.et relies.

Challenges for Po.et’s Open Source Strategy

While the open source technologies on which Po.et depends provide a number of benefits, they are not without risks. The biggest challenge currently facing projects like Po.et is the end of Net neutrality. While it remains to be seen what exactly the repeal of Net neutrality will entail, if the Internet is no longer equally accessible for all users, ISPs could block technologies and protocols like public blockchains and IPFS.

Notwithstanding these challenges, we built Po.et on an open source foundation because we are committed to everything that open technologies — and policies like Net neutrality — represent: A fair, transparent world in which everyone is free to share information securely.

Conclusion

The future of openness within the blockchain ecosystem as a whole remains to be seen. Po.et’s stance, however, is clear. The project is built on open source foundations, committed to the open source community and in general, following a vision for a future informed by openness and transparency.