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This is a very goofy article. Google has open source so many things that it is a bit crazy they give away. But who else open sources their OSs? Both Androi

This is a very goofy article. Google has open source so many things that it is a bit crazy they give away. But who else open sources their OSs? Both Android and ChromeOS. But the craziest one is giving away Borg. Probably the most incredible technology Google has created and just opens sources it. For me personally the biggest contribution from Google is https://research.google.com/pubs/papers.html https://research.google.com/pubs/papers.html Kind of the opposite of what this article suggests. I get some of the alt right has a problem with Google firing Damore but this article is ridiculous, IMO.

pjmlp 8y ago
> Both Android and ChromeOS. Which are only kind of open sourced. Google only makes the lower levels available and both are designed in such a way that using Linux as kernel is largely irrelevant for anyone using the OS SDKs. ChromeOS is mostly a Web browser juggler and as such the only way to develop for it is with the standard Web platform APIs. Android is all about Google's version of Java, with plain ANSI C, C++ and a couple of native APIs on the NDK, everything else is not white listed as official NDK API and as of Android 7 trying to link to them will cause an application termination.
MikusR 8y ago
Neither Android nor ChromeOS are open source. Only parts of them are.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
virgilp 8y ago
You could've skipped the last paragraph as it adds nothing to the discussion.
- nukeop 8y ago
  It reveals the poster's affiliation, which is pretty important in assessing the usefulness of his post
batty_alex 8y ago
First, How does this have anything to do with the alt-right? That's just a distraction from your argument that we shouldn't criticize the actions of Google because they give away some research. Google, and others, have turned open source into a free marketing campaign. Most of it is only open source in the "source available" sense. You could fork it, but the sheer size and magnitude of insider contributions makes it as useful as packaged software that came with source code.
- jacksmith21006 8y ago
  It appears a lot of the negative Google stuff I read is driven by emotions upset with the alt right thinking they are against them. Seems to have started with firing Damore. I have ZERO problem criticizing anyone. But if we look at all the tech companies there has never been any tech company that give away more IP than Google. Nobody even close. So my post is a lot more about removing the social politics emotions and look at actual data. It is crazy giving away Borg and the K8S trademark. But Google has open sourced so much stuff. We have five OSs today. iOS, OS X, Windows, Android and ChromeOS. Two are open source. Yes I realize there was a OSS of Apple OSs but that is NOT what is used today. But then Chrome and well so many other things. But look at giving away Map/Reduce and GFS and so many other things in papers. I tire a bit of the bitching on HN and really worry Google will end giving away stuff. It is hard to see why they continue. There is little in it for them.
  - scarface74 8y ago
    have ZERO problem criticizing anyone. But if we look at all the tech companies there has never been any tech company that give away more IP than Google. Nobody even close. Google only "gives away" IP that isn't part of their core business - just like Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft. Where is the code for Google crawler and search algorithm? Gmail? Google Play Services? The back end for Google Docs?
    - jacksmith21006 8y ago
      Would argue nothing is more core than Borg. So would disagree. I do think they are holding back some stuff and a big one is SDC stuff. Plus we do not get the info until next release. So we got gen 1 TPUs after Gen 2. We will probably get gen 2 details with gen 3 release. But Google shares so much more than any other tech company. I think possibly ever?
kuschku 8y ago
"Android is open source". So let’s take a look at it. If I buy an Android device from Google today, can I use it just with the open source version of the OS? No, I can’t. Is there any device I can use just with the open source version? No. So, what is in the proprietary version that isn’t in the open source version? The Dialer is proprietary (since somewhere between 4.4 and 5.0), the Calendar is proprietary (since 4.4), the Contacts app is proprietary (since 4.4). The on-device search is proprietary (since 3.0), the homescreen app is proprietary (since 4.4). The drivers are proprietary, the firmware is proprietary, the libraries to use recent openssl on older versions are proprietary, the only way to do wifi geolocation is proprietary, the only way to run in background is proprietary. Android is as much open source as macOS is: Darwin is open source, and webkit is open source, but everything inbetween is proprietary. I suggest you read https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on-android-controlling-open-source-by-any-means-necessary/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on... to learn about why your statements about Android are deeply misleading
scarface74 8y ago
Sure parts of Android are open source, but what makes Android what it is to most users is the open source part + a bunch of closed source Google parts. Google has been closing more of Android over the years.... https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on-android-controlling-open-source-by-any-means-necessary/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on...
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
dep_b 8y ago
Android is becoming more closed source every year up til the point that they basically forked it without officially forking it. Apple has open sourced Darwin but the real goodies are in the closed source part of macOS.

pjmlp 8y ago

> Both Android and ChromeOS. Which are only kind of open sourced. Google only makes the lower levels available and both are designed in such a way that using Linux as kernel is largely irrelevant for anyone using the OS SDKs. ChromeOS is mostly a Web browser juggler and as such the only way to develop for it is with the standard Web platform APIs. Android is all about Google's version of Java, with plain ANSI C, C++ and a couple of native APIs on the NDK, everything else is not white listed as official NDK API and as of Android 7 trying to link to them will cause an application termination.

MikusR 8y ago

Neither Android nor ChromeOS are open source. Only parts of them are.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

virgilp 8y ago

You could've skipped the last paragraph as it adds nothing to the discussion.

nukeop 8y ago
It reveals the poster's affiliation, which is pretty important in assessing the usefulness of his post

batty_alex 8y ago

First, How does this have anything to do with the alt-right? That's just a distraction from your argument that we shouldn't criticize the actions of Google because they give away some research. Google, and others, have turned open source into a free marketing campaign. Most of it is only open source in the "source available" sense. You could fork it, but the sheer size and magnitude of insider contributions makes it as useful as packaged software that came with source code.

jacksmith21006 8y ago
It appears a lot of the negative Google stuff I read is driven by emotions upset with the alt right thinking they are against them. Seems to have started with firing Damore. I have ZERO problem criticizing anyone. But if we look at all the tech companies there has never been any tech company that give away more IP than Google. Nobody even close. So my post is a lot more about removing the social politics emotions and look at actual data. It is crazy giving away Borg and the K8S trademark. But Google has open sourced so much stuff. We have five OSs today. iOS, OS X, Windows, Android and ChromeOS. Two are open source. Yes I realize there was a OSS of Apple OSs but that is NOT what is used today. But then Chrome and well so many other things. But look at giving away Map/Reduce and GFS and so many other things in papers. I tire a bit of the bitching on HN and really worry Google will end giving away stuff. It is hard to see why they continue. There is little in it for them.
- scarface74 8y ago
  have ZERO problem criticizing anyone. But if we look at all the tech companies there has never been any tech company that give away more IP than Google. Nobody even close. Google only "gives away" IP that isn't part of their core business - just like Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft. Where is the code for Google crawler and search algorithm? Gmail? Google Play Services? The back end for Google Docs?
  - jacksmith21006 8y ago
    Would argue nothing is more core than Borg. So would disagree. I do think they are holding back some stuff and a big one is SDC stuff. Plus we do not get the info until next release. So we got gen 1 TPUs after Gen 2. We will probably get gen 2 details with gen 3 release. But Google shares so much more than any other tech company. I think possibly ever?

kuschku 8y ago

"Android is open source". So let’s take a look at it. If I buy an Android device from Google today, can I use it just with the open source version of the OS? No, I can’t. Is there any device I can use just with the open source version? No. So, what is in the proprietary version that isn’t in the open source version? The Dialer is proprietary (since somewhere between 4.4 and 5.0), the Calendar is proprietary (since 4.4), the Contacts app is proprietary (since 4.4). The on-device search is proprietary (since 3.0), the homescreen app is proprietary (since 4.4). The drivers are proprietary, the firmware is proprietary, the libraries to use recent openssl on older versions are proprietary, the only way to do wifi geolocation is proprietary, the only way to run in background is proprietary. Android is as much open source as macOS is: Darwin is open source, and webkit is open source, but everything inbetween is proprietary. I suggest you read https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on-android-controlling-open-source-by-any-means-necessary/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on... to learn about why your statements about Android are deeply misleading

scarface74 8y ago

Sure parts of Android are open source, but what makes Android what it is to most users is the open source part + a bunch of closed source Google parts. Google has been closing more of Android over the years.... https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on-android-controlling-open-source-by-any-means-necessary/ https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/10/googles-iron-grip-on...

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

dep_b 8y ago

Android is becoming more closed source every year up til the point that they basically forked it without officially forking it. Apple has open sourced Darwin but the real goodies are in the closed source part of macOS.