Recently, the progress made by China’s startups and high-tech companies is evident. Whether in software, hardware, or business model innovation, domestic enterprises are no longer inferior to their foreign counterparts. Especially in terms of market share and user numbers, Chinese high-tech companies are truly impressive. But did you know? Currently, many major software products in China actually originate from foreign open-source software.
Let’s take a look at the truth behind this.
This article is from Pconline by Aimo, and it takes about 4 minutes to read.
They Support a Host of Domestic Software! Do You Know These Open Source Projects?
Now, various domestic software has firmly occupied the Chinese market. Whether in browsers, download software, compression tools, or video players, we can see the active presence of domestic software. Indeed, domestic software has a good user experience in many aspects, but its strength largely comes from the core technologies borrowed from numerous open-source software projects. While everyone knows domestic software well, how much do we know about the open-source software behind it? Today, let’s discuss the open-source software behind domestic software.
Supporting a Host of Domestic Browsers: Chromium
Many “fast browsers” in China use the same engine as Chrome, which is well-known. 
However, many may not know the details behind the open-source project Chromium, which is based on Webkit, and Webkit originates from the DE open-source project, thriving in Apple’s Safari project. So, there is some connection between Chromium and Apple. However, Chromium is not just Webkit; Chrome only inherits the WebCore part of Webkit, uses Google’s proud “V8” for the JS engine, and wraps a layer of Webkit Glue on top of Webkit. It can be said that Chromium has undergone significant modifications.
Chromium is the foundation on which many domestic fast browsers rely.
Moreover, Chromium has switched to the Blink engine, further distancing itself from Webkit. Many domestic browsers use the source code of Chromium, so many have also switched to the Blink engine. However, domestic browsers often only inherit the core and JS engine of Chromium, while the extended support features are significantly cut down. Compared to Chrome, domestic browsers have weak support for various extension plugins and often can only install modified extensions, possibly due to commercial reasons. Although domestic software has added many features compared to Chrome, the weak support for extensions greatly reduces its playability.
Domestic Media Players’ Big Support: FFmpeg
Everyone loves using domestic players to watch movies, as the functionality is quite good, allowing for subtitle searching, cloud playback, and, most importantly, supporting a wide range of formats. However, many do not know that the comprehensive format support is closely related to the foreign open-source project FFmpeg.
FFmpeg’s decoders have created countless universal players.
FFmpeg is an open-source project related to video processing, containing a rich multimedia decoding library. The reason domestic players are so versatile is largely due to the use of FFmpeg’s decoding libraries. However, FFmpeg is based on LGPL/GPL open-source licenses, meaning that if a software uses FFmpeg’s code, the parts involving this code must also be open-sourced. But in China, you know the culture — they don’t follow the rules after taking your stuff. Therefore, some domestic “XX media” have been nailed to the shame pole of FFmpeg.
Taking Advantage and Getting Kicked Out: 7-Zip
There are many free compression software in China, which are quite good in functionality and speed, but their core often does not come from themselves. Domestic compression software often uses the kernel of the open-source software 7-Zip to support various compressed file formats.
7-Zip has a significant impact, primarily due to its high efficiency. Using 7-Zip encoding can achieve a higher compression ratio than WinZip and WinRAR. Moreover, it has excellent support for various compressed file formats, covering most mainstream formats, although some commercial formats like rar can only be decompressed, not compressed. Since 7-Zip is open-source, its kernel has been used by many other compression software, and domestic compression software is usually a loyal follower of 7-Zip.
A major reason 7-Zip is not popular in China may be its simple interface, but this style is what makes it unique.
However, 7-Zip is also an open-source software using the LGPL license, which means that using its source code should also be open-sourced. But domestic software like “X Compression” not only fails to open-source but also deliberately adds non-compressible junk into the file header, making it impossible for other compression software to decompress. Using someone else’s code while intentionally creating incompatibilities is simply shameless!
Paving the Way for Experienced Users: eMule
If you are an experienced user, you should know VeryCD and eMule. VeryCD provides a large number of eD2k links, allowing you to download various resources through its “eMule” software. Although VeryCD has transformed now, major download software still supports eD2k links well, and various eD2k resources are essential for experienced users.
However, many may not know the open-source software eMule behind eD2k. The eD2k protocol originated from a commercial company’s eDonkey (the real eMule) sharing software. A dissatisfied German developed the open-source client eMule, which also supports the eD2k protocol. VeryCD modified eMule’s open-source code to create the well-known “VeryCD eMule.”
If you haven’t used eMule, you might not be a true experienced user.
Compared to the open-source eMule, VeryCD eMule has cut down a lot of features. For example, you cannot perform unrestricted searches on the KAD network, meaning you cannot freely access various resources—now popular “torrent search tools” are just modified KAD searchers. VeryCD has declined now, but eD2k remains in various download software, reminding everyone to remember the eMule that paved the way while driving.
The Power Source of Smart Routers: OpenWRT
Currently, smart routers in China are booming, and compared to traditional routers, they indeed have many powerful features. For example, they can connect external hard drives for NAS use and install many third-party plugins for enhanced functionality. However, the reliance on OpenWRT is little known.
No OpenWRT, no smart routers.
OpenWRT is an open-source router firmware, and its extensibility is its biggest selling point—this is also the biggest selling point of smart routers. OpenWRT is based on Linux, and its strong extensibility is largely due to Linux. However, like Linux, OpenWRT has a high usage threshold; the original version requires command-line manipulation, and without certain Linux and networking knowledge, it is challenging to master. Domestic router manufacturers have modified OpenWRT into more user-friendly firmware, which can be considered a version of OpenWRT.
However, although domestic smart router firmware is easy to use, compared to OpenWRT, there are still some aspects, such as performance and playability, that are lacking. Compared to OpenWRT, the performance and stability of smart router firmware are weaker. Especially during high traffic, the throughput performance difference becomes more pronounced; and in terms of extensibility, due to technical and commercial reasons, the playability is also inferior to OpenWRT. Moreover, domestic smart router manufacturers often use OpenWRT without continuing to open-source it according to the GPL agreement, which is highly criticized.
Conclusion
In this advertisement-saturated commercial society, we rarely hear about open-source software. Closed-source commercial software has built a dazzling world of software, but open-source software has never left its supporting position. Indeed, many features of domestic software are easy to use, but when using these commercial software, we should also remember the open-source projects that silently contribute behind the scenes. Without them, the information age would lose much of its brilliance!
Additionally, it’s worth mentioning that many Chinese programmers have contributed to these open-source projects, so it’s not entirely accurate to say they are foreign open-source software.
Written by｜Pconline Author Aimo
Editor | YOUNG
Reviewed by｜Guidance Manor
