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

submitted 2 weeks 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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[–] tgxn@lemmy.tgxn.net 3 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

If it's on git and other people are using it with no issues, or it was reccommended by someone you trust, it's probably fine (the software itself) - that's not to say the developer could have built something sketchy into the app, or could one day be compromised. It also depends how/where I'm running the apps (on my PC, or on a VM inside a container?) Threat models are different for each.

All of that said, supply chain attacks and sketchy developers selling out could totally be a thing, and you'd get some malware on your computer!

I'd be interested in what other people think/doaboit the OPs question though.