Google Strategy

Posted Mar 25, 2011 17:06 UTC (Fri) by b7j0c (guest, #27559)
In reply to: Google Strategy by foom
Parent article: Google Holds Honeycomb Tight (Business Week)

i agree with xxiao. it is worse because google is exploiting the good will of users who are trying to support commercial products which are open source.

Google Strategy

Posted Mar 27, 2011 13:30 UTC (Sun) by alankila (guest, #47141) [Link] (2 responses)

... and to make this claim, you have to prove that such buyers actually exist and matter. As far as I can tell, everyone here (meaning the open source community) already hates Google.

Google Strategy

Posted Mar 27, 2011 15:44 UTC (Sun) by bronson (subscriber, #4806) [Link] (1 responses)

Everyone in the Summer of Code hates Google? All the Google engineers being paid to contribute to open source, they hate Google as well?

If you're only referring to Android then it's unlikely but possible I guess. But, open source as a whole?? Not a chance. (and I have nothing at all to do with Google other than being annoyed by their recruiters)

Google Strategy

Posted Mar 27, 2011 19:56 UTC (Sun) by alankila (guest, #47141) [Link]

Don't let facts get in the way of me trying to make a point. The point I was making is that there's been a lot of noise made about Google being an evil company, so I judged that anyone who cares probably knows this already.

And even if no open source person bought any android device, I doubt it would affect Android's popularity much. We are a tiny minority, and the average user just doesn't care. So what we think is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Android's survival is in hands of Google, who according to the FAQ commits enough professional engineering resources to make it work, so Google doesn't actually need our community's approval. (And hasn't gained it, for what it's worth.)

I also think that a lot of the whining here is going overboard. What if Google releases Honeycomb source next month? Everyone here talking about how this is the end of open Android will just end up looking pretty silly. Their FAQ states that source releases are part of the strategy of maintaining the platform's viability. I expect them to do what is best for the platform as they see it.