How do you vet open source software if you don't know code well? (slrpnk.net)

submitted 3 days ago by reallykindasorta@slrpnk.net to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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There are oodles of neat and singular programs on github and similar. Curious what steps people take to vet for malware before downloading and trying stuff, especially if you’re not very familiar with the coding language it’s written in.

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[-] sopularity_fax@sopuli.xyz 2 points 3 days ago

Its not foolproof but one easy way is to use something like Portbox or LittleSnitch to check if it tries to phone home. If internet access isnt reasonably required for it, thats sort of a bad look in my view. If you really need what it does - the internet stuff, make sure its blocked from internet use with one of those apps. Otherwise, try to find one that doesnt do that

this post was submitted on 17 Jan 2026

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