Openness wins everything: Bitcoin inherits Linux's glory

Linux vs IBM

IBM was once the absolute leader in the computer field. It was synonymous with quality. If you bought other brands, it only proved that you were too poor to afford IBM. But then Linux appeared. Linux hit IBM's weak spot, because in IBM's philosophy, if you want to make the best computer system to adapt to the work of real serious occasions, such as banks, governments, etc., you need a closed place with strict control and precision management, and find some people with rigorous training and doctoral degrees. If we go back to 1991, when Linus, a sophomore in Finland, said that he wanted to make an operating system in his dormitory, everyone would think it was a joke. At that time, it took thousands of employees to work together to make an operating system. But Linus didn't care and still made his own Linux operating system.

Now 80% of mobile phone systems are Android, which is Linux. The servers they connect to are also running Linux. Bank systems also use Linux, and car systems also use Linux. When these systems are not using Linux, it is actually very easy to identify. When the error message is: "Sorry, the system crashed", you know that they installed a wrong system. If you were 15 years old and told IBM engineers that you would be defeated by a system built in a dormitory, they would definitely laugh at you. But this is the reality now.

If you ask why? Linux is open source software, all the details are open and transparent, so anyone can modify it freely and make a system that suits them, so it is said that open wins everything. So we can return to the topic of banking system.

Bitcoin vs Banks

Currently, Bitcoin is challenging the financial system, the most powerful industry in the world. Bitcoin will win not because it is better than the previous system, not because the banking system has always been controlled by a bunch of hooligans and scammers, and not because the financial system has only had two innovations in the past 50 years, ATMs and credit cards, and has spent the rest of the time focusing on how to play tricks. Bitcoin will win simply because it is OPEN. Openness can win the future because openness allows innovation to explode.

This is true for any current financial system. In their security model, bad guys are absolutely kept out. I cannot connect to the Visa network to do programming because it would compromise the security of the Visa system. The same is true for other systems. These systems are closed by design because the basis of their security is the control of access rights. Every person or application connected to the system is strictly controlled because as long as there is one bad guy, just one, who enters the system, he can do whatever he wants. The reality is even more terrifying because we all saw in 2008 that the financial system is actually owned by bad guys. They used their greed to take away many people's savings and pensions.

Bitcoin is completely different. This difference is not because we suddenly found some of the most honest people in the world. Or that there are no scammers in the Bitcoin system, so it will never be attacked. In fact, there are many scammers in the Bitcoin system, and it is attacked every day, but the characteristic of Bitcoin is that it does not rely on access control to ensure security, but relies on a simple reward system. If you want to participate in the Bitcoin game, as a miner you need to use a lot of electricity. If you win the competition among many miners, you can get a certain amount of Bitcoin as a reward. This simple rule leads to more benefits for following the rules of the game than breaking the rules. This is the game theory.

Open Wins

At this time, people in the traditional financial field will laugh at you again, saying that this is not feasible at all. How can it bring security if you let everyone compete with each other? This will only lead to chaos. It is like putting an encyclopedia on the Internet and anyone can edit it, so the final result will definitely be a mess.

Bitcoin is a completely open system that anyone can connect to. You can now program your own financial services without getting permission from anyone in advance. You can do whatever you want because Bitcoin is not afraid of you, because security here is not achieved by limiting bad guys' access. In fact, even if there are many bad guys messing around in the core of the system, the system will still work well, because in fact the Bitcoin system has no core, it is a completely distributed system.

Imagine what the future would be like if, for the first time in history, we had a financial system that anyone could freely connect to.