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This is not an officially supported Google product. How does this work? It's developed by google but it's not officially supported?

by nova22033 4y ago

vaughands 4y ago
It's likely someone's 20% project.
- paulgb 4y ago
  Google also has (or had? it's been 7 years since I was there) pretty strict rules around working on your own OSS even on your free time, so the easiest way is (was?) for Google to own the IP and apply an open source license.
  - mdaniel 4y ago
    I somehow got the impression that kind of restriction was illegal in California, although I guess it's like a lot of things in the legal domain: those who have the most lawyers wins
    - jkaplowitz 4y ago
      California applies limits to such restrictions, but does allow them when the side projects in question relate to the employer's actual or demonstrably anticipated business, among other exceptions. A tool specific to Google Kubernetes Engine, as we're discussing here, plainly relates to Google's business. My memory of Google US employment legalese - note I have not worked for them for over 7 years and am not speaking for them here - is that they acknowledge limits to their IP assignment provisions which are consistent with California law. Any Googler who is confident that those limits protect their ownership by default of their side project does not have to seek Google's approval in order to own it, even according to the contract wording. But Google's business is so broad that it's often legitimately debatable (and sometimes beyond the knowledge of the Googler doing the work) as to whether something would be in scope. So getting their approval, which can come either with explicit assignment of rights back to the Googler or explicit permission to release under Google copyright, is often the prudent approach to minimize undesired risks.
kyrra 4y ago
(googler, opinions are my own). Google actually publishes most of the docs that Googler's have to follow when open sourcing software. See: https://opensource.google/documentation/reference/releasing https://opensource.google/documentation/reference/releasing This specific line you're asking about is talked about here: https://opensource.google/documentation/reference/releasing/publishing#disclaimer https://opensource.google/documentation/reference/releasing/...
mikowhy 4y ago
The tool is developed by Google Cloud engineers working in professional services. We create such tools to quickly help our customers (and often ourselves) in some particular challenges. Sometimes such initiatives are merging with a core product. The disclaimer is there to say, that this tool is maintained by the community, not the official product support.

This is not an officially supported Google product. How does this work? It's developed by google but it's not officially supported?

vaughands 4y ago

It's likely someone's 20% project.

paulgb 4y ago
Google also has (or had? it's been 7 years since I was there) pretty strict rules around working on your own OSS even on your free time, so the easiest way is (was?) for Google to own the IP and apply an open source license.
- mdaniel 4y ago
  I somehow got the impression that kind of restriction was illegal in California, although I guess it's like a lot of things in the legal domain: those who have the most lawyers wins
  - jkaplowitz 4y ago
    California applies limits to such restrictions, but does allow them when the side projects in question relate to the employer's actual or demonstrably anticipated business, among other exceptions. A tool specific to Google Kubernetes Engine, as we're discussing here, plainly relates to Google's business. My memory of Google US employment legalese - note I have not worked for them for over 7 years and am not speaking for them here - is that they acknowledge limits to their IP assignment provisions which are consistent with California law. Any Googler who is confident that those limits protect their ownership by default of their side project does not have to seek Google's approval in order to own it, even according to the contract wording. But Google's business is so broad that it's often legitimately debatable (and sometimes beyond the knowledge of the Googler doing the work) as to whether something would be in scope. So getting their approval, which can come either with explicit assignment of rights back to the Googler or explicit permission to release under Google copyright, is often the prudent approach to minimize undesired risks.

kyrra 4y ago

(googler, opinions are my own). Google actually publishes most of the docs that Googler's have to follow when open sourcing software. See: https://opensource.google/documentation/reference/releasing https://opensource.google/documentation/reference/releasing This specific line you're asking about is talked about here: https://opensource.google/documentation/reference/releasing/publishing#disclaimer https://opensource.google/documentation/reference/releasing/...

mikowhy 4y ago

The tool is developed by Google Cloud engineers working in professional services. We create such tools to quickly help our customers (and often ourselves) in some particular challenges. Sometimes such initiatives are merging with a core product. The disclaimer is there to say, that this tool is maintained by the community, not the official product support.