Explain Like I'm Five | Don't Panic!

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The original was posted on /r/explainlikeimfive by /u/35usc271a on 2023-10-05 18:38:50.

I read articles about various governments trying to steal US industrial software. My understanding is that such software can be used to make a factory run, etc. My question is, what's so secretive about that? It seems to me that most software engineers could write a similar code without having to steal someone else's. And besides that, isn't every factory different, therefore requiring different software anyways? What makes it so valuable that it's worth stealing?