This post is based on Josh Schrei's article of the same name. As someone from the Computer Engineering field, I found this outlook fascinating, and very true.
Trying to explain the core beliefs of "Hinduism" to an interested observer can be challenging to say the least. Its often stated that the word "Hinduism" itself is a total misnomer, as it basically refers to the sum total of spiritual and religious thought and practice that has taken place on the Indian subcontinent over the past 5,000 years. And lets just say it's been a busy 5,000 years.
The sheer volume of spiritual literature and doctrine, the number of distinct gods worshiped (over 30 million, according to some sources), the breadth of distinct philosophies and practices that have emerged, and the total transformation over time of many of the core Indic teachings and beliefs can be disconcerting to those raised in monotheistic cultures, as we are used to each faith bringing with it a defined set of beliefs that -- with the exception of some denominational rifts over the centuries -- stay pretty much consistent over time.
However, the key point of differentiation between Hinduism and these other faiths is not polytheism vs. monotheism. The key differentiation is that "Hinduism" is Open Source and most other faiths are Closed Source. "Open source is an approach to the design, development, and distribution of software, offering practical accessibility to a software's source code."
There is absolutely no limit or restriction on the end user(A follower(or even a non adherent) of Hinduism (better termed Sanatna Dharma)) regarding changes he can make to the source code. In fact this is exactly what the followers of Sanatana Dharma(Hinduism) have done over thousands of years. No part of the code is sacred..not even "god". Some have modified the source code to support their polytheistic worldview..some monotheistic..some agnostic ....some pantheistic("God is the whole")..panentheistic ("The whole is in God.")..dualistic..nondualistic/monistic and Atheistic...not to mention pure Materialistic and Hedonistic.
The users have invented, reinvented, changed, merged, split and deleted(from their particular version) pretty much every permutation and combination of philosophy conceivable...and this process is still ongoing.
Atheists and goddess worshipers, heretics who've sought god through booze, sex, and meat, ash covered hermits, dualists and non-dualists, nihilists and hedonists, poets and singers, students and saints, children and outcasts ... all have contributed their lines of code to the Hindu string.
In the Rig Veda, a god of the universe, Prajapathi (Please note the term "A"...as this is merely one version of the source code...and most Hindus do not even know who Prajapathi is/was) asks the following
"Who really knows?
Who will here proclaim it?
Whence was it produced?
Whence is this creation?
The gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe.
Who then knows whence it has arisen?"
But as much as the gods change and the evolution of Indic thought leads us to increasingly modern and post-modern views of the nature of reality, the old Vedic codes still remain front and center. One of Hinduism's defining factors is that the historic view of god, the nature worship and shamanism, never went away, so that god as currently worshiped exists simultaneously as symbol and archetype as well as literal embodiment. That Shiva, for instance, could simultaneously be the light of ultimate consciousness and an ash-smeared madman who frequents cremation grounds is a delight to us spiritual anarchists, while mind numbing to most western Theologists.
Western and Middle Eastern monotheistic faiths have simply not allowed such liberal interpretation of their God. They continue to exist as closed source systems.
"Generally, means only the binaries of a computer program are distributed and the license provides no access to the program's source code. The source code of such programs might be regarded as a trade secret of the company."
While There are many denominations amongst those who profess the Abrahamic faiths...they all have some commonality on core concepts. For example, one cannot reject "god" and be a Jew or Christian or a Muslim...while there is no such "sacred" area in Hinduism. Everything and anything is fair game. And Sanatana Dharma(Hinduism) as we know it today is the amalgamation/collection of every single philosophical, religious, scientific poetic and musical concepts developed by its adherents.
It is fitting indeed that Madhavacharya, one of the greatest Hindu Philosophers who enumerated the major philosophies of the Sanatana Dharma starts his magnum opus with the first Chapter given to "Atheism", a very strong presentation of arguments in favor of Atheism. It is no wonder that Charvarka, one of the foremost proponents of Atheism and the founder of Hinduism's Charvarka school of Atheism (6th century BC) is regarded as a great Hindu sage by other Hindus to this day.
As Josh Schrei pointed out, Hinduism is truly a religious/philosophical/way of life equivalent of the modern day "open source" software concept. It is also the main reason there is no "heresy" in Hinduism. There are "templates" available for most people, but if the template is not to one's liking, one can rewrite the source code itself...and chances are that this new version might become the template for many others as well...as it had done so over millenia. This is not just related to Hindus only...Some of the reform movements within Hinduism (Btw Buddha was a Hindu, and he never claimed to start a new religion...it was his followers a few generations later who termed it "Buddhism" and made it into something similar to a religion) were spearheaded by people like Buddha...AdiShankara..and others. Some, like Buddhism have become religions in their own right...they have done exactly what Other Hindus have done...they re-wrote/modified the source code while keeping many attributes intact....Even modern day neopagans have done this, as myriad Hindu concepts have made way into their religions. The source code is available for everyone...royalty free.
As a Hindu Atheist I find this quite refreshing.