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WireGuard was reinstated after Jason has submitted a new version which does not contain a donation link. The issue has not been solved, and Google did not yet c
by dessant 7y ago
WireGuard was reinstated after Jason has submitted a new version which does not contain a donation link. The issue has not been solved, and Google did not yet contact maintainers to clarify whether they would be allowed to have a donation link in WireGuard.
Several other open source apps are still missing from Google Play, including andOTP.
While WireGuard was bought back online, version 0.0.20191013 was briefly made available (with a donation link) before it got updated to version 0.0.20191016. Again, the current version of WireGuard does not contain a donation link.
This is the original version of the post, which has become inaccurate minutes after it was posted:
> WireGuard has been reinstated [1], and the donation link is in the app menu (version 0.0.20191013).
> Google has reversed its decision to remove an app that contains a link to a donation page, likely because of public scrutiny.
> I'm hopeful that people will continue to seek answers for why Google has begun to remove these open source apps, there are several of them mentioned in this thread alone. Please don't allow this to go unnoticed, the future of a bunch of less popular open source projects may depend on how this issue is perceived by the public, and addressed by Google.
> [1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wireguard.android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wireguard....
- neonate 7y ago> Google has reversed its decision to remove an app that contains a link to a donation page Are we sure that this is a decision reversal, as opposed to just reinstating one (or a few) apps?
- dessant 7y agoThis is why it is important to continue questioning their actions, a bunch of other open source apps remain taken down, or were forced to remove their donation links. The issue of donation links in apps must be clearly addressed by Google.
- zx2c4 7y agoCould you double check 0.0.20191013? My phone just updated, and I'm seeing the APK version that has the donation link removed, 0.0.20191016. I haven't received any further emails from Google (yet?), so I'm still uncertain as to whether I have any sort of green light to republish a version with the link.
- dessant 7y agoYes, 0.0.20191013 has been freshly installed on my device from Google Play right before I posted, and has a donation link. I see the version published on Google Play has been updated since to 0.0.20191016.
- zx2c4 7y agoOh, super. Thanks for confirming. I'll wait a day for some response from Google, I suppose, and then decide whether or not to re-add it. I certainly don't want to inconvenience users again.
- fouric 7y agoIf it really is because of public scrutiny, IMHO we shouldn't actually treat it as if it happened at all - a corporation that only responds to public pressure like this should be shamed and avoided. (slightly expanded version at https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20829422 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20829422)
- dessant 7y agoIt's disheartening to witness some of the arguments in this thread defending Google, saying that disallowing open source developers from linking to their Patreon pages is a legal requirement, because Google is legally liable (while the rest of the internet apparently isn't) for the payments that may happen on Patreon by following those links.
- thayne 7y agoBut was it a version with the donation link removed?
- dessant 7y agoThe version with the donation link was up only for a short period, and then it was superseded by the new version. The currently published WireGuard version has NO donation link.
- MelodyConcerto 7y agoAt least they heard us this time. Too often they refuse to listen when there isn't an angry mob at the door.
- zx2c4 7y agoAn update on this: they have reinstated the app WITHOUT the link, and there has been no change in policy, according to insiders. Officially, Google has not communicated at all with us about it.