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I published several papers while working at Google on Chrome. There is a publication review process that at that time was not onerous at all. In fact, all of my

by titzer 6y ago

I published several papers while working at Google on Chrome. There is a publication review process that at that time was not onerous at all. In fact, all of my publication submissions were reviewed post facto and basically rubber-stamped. All, with the exception of one, our publication on Spectre, which was carefully vetted to not disclose any sensitive information about further vulnerabilities or violate NDAs with partners. So my experience for publishing at Google, admittedly in a non-controversial area of Programming Languages, was positive. That said, the corporate culture is bending authoritarian and Orwellian. The new changes are just an further evolution in that arc. This is part of the reason I left in 2019.

googlethrow3134 6y ago
When have trillion dollar companies not been authoritarian in protecting and furthering their own corporate interests?
- UncleOxidant 6y ago
  Corporations, companies are some of the last bastions of authoritarianism.
- shadowgovt 6y ago
  All too true. The biggest challenge Google is struggling through right now is that it's not just impractical, but dangerous for it to continue to behave like a small and scrappy startup. Behavior patterns that are beneficial for a small company are harmful to a big company. To give a concrete example, "move fast and break things" is fine when you have 100 people relying on you, and should probably be sanctionable (though, in our industry, it is often not outside the context of contracts and pre-arranged agreements) when you have 2 billion people using your system several dozen times a day for critical information, where their lives are materially negatively impacted if that information is false or out-dated.
  - rightbyte 6y ago
    > To give a concrete example, "move fast and break things" is fine when you have 100 people relying on you, If you are OK with things to break you are not relying on it, I would say.
jldugger 6y ago
> I published several papers while working at Google on Chrome. I'm curious -- did any of your papers touch on the ethics of browsers or call on specific caucuses of Congress to take action that your employer will not?

by titzer 6y ago

googlethrow3134 6y ago

When have trillion dollar companies not been authoritarian in protecting and furthering their own corporate interests?

UncleOxidant 6y ago
Corporations, companies are some of the last bastions of authoritarianism.
shadowgovt 6y ago
All too true. The biggest challenge Google is struggling through right now is that it's not just impractical, but dangerous for it to continue to behave like a small and scrappy startup. Behavior patterns that are beneficial for a small company are harmful to a big company. To give a concrete example, "move fast and break things" is fine when you have 100 people relying on you, and should probably be sanctionable (though, in our industry, it is often not outside the context of contracts and pre-arranged agreements) when you have 2 billion people using your system several dozen times a day for critical information, where their lives are materially negatively impacted if that information is false or out-dated.
- rightbyte 6y ago
  > To give a concrete example, "move fast and break things" is fine when you have 100 people relying on you, If you are OK with things to break you are not relying on it, I would say.

jldugger 6y ago

> I published several papers while working at Google on Chrome. I'm curious -- did any of your papers touch on the ethics of browsers or call on specific caucuses of Congress to take action that your employer will not?