binary blob

English

Noun

binary blob (plural binary blobs)

1. (programming, often derogatory) A piece of software which is only available as a binary file (as opposed to being open-source), thus making the program very difficult to audit or modify.
   • 2022 January 31, Andrew Cunningham, “Review: MNT Reform laptop has fully open hardware and software—for better or worse”, in Ars Technica‎, archived from the original on 28 September 2024:

     You put up with the closed hardware because it performs well, and it supports the standard software, development tools, and APIs that keep the computing world spinning. For others, it's anathema—if you can't see the source code for these "binary blobs," they are inherently untrustworthy and should be used sparingly or not at all.

Further reading

• binary blob on Wikipedia.Wikipedia