4 ms·

Slightly curious why it's on the google github account, if it's not an official google project, or even endorsed by google? Surely this should live over on gith

Slightly curious why it's on the google github account, if it's not an official google project, or even endorsed by google? Surely this should live over on github.com/dragostis/forma then?

cmrdporcupine 4y ago
If you're a Google employee, there's a few different paths to 'legally' open sourcing stuff without violating your employment contract. The simplest and fastest one is just to assign copyright to Google, use an approved license (basically anything non-copyleft) and stick it under the google/ github org. It being there doesn't mean Google sponsored or authored it, just that a Googler worked/works on it. And the "not official Google product" text is mandatory in the README. There are other processes that allow you to retain copyright for yourself, but they require approval process. (I used to work at Google, and have followed this process before.)
- afandian 4y ago
  When you leave employment at Google do you typically retain your github account and contribution rights to the repo?
  - cmrdporcupine 4y ago
    Most people I think just use their personal github but join the Google org. And then you get booted from it when you quit. Commit rights, I'm actually not clear on, but by default I think you'd lose rights. I believe there's likely a process for keeping them,, but I don't recall what it is. The one repo I contributed to that followed this process was essentially abandoned long before I left Google.
    - afandian 4y ago
      Thanks, that's interesting. Is any production Google code written this way, or is it only Google-adjacent open source?
      - cmrdporcupine 4y ago
        There are definitely things under the google github org that are used in production, though they are typically mirrored from Google3 in some way. But not sure what, if any, has its origins in a personal open source projects.
      - zem 4y ago
        i work on https://github.com/google/pytype https://github.com/google/pytype which is largely developed internally and then pushed to github every few days. the github commits are associated with the team's personal github accounts. pytype is not an "official google product" insofar as the open source version is presented as is without official google support, but it is "production code" in the sense that it is very much used extensively within google.
- wmf 4y ago
  Putting "not official Google products" under github.com/google is the dumbest policy. I wonder why they don't realize/care about this.
  - cmrdporcupine 4y ago
    Yeah, I suppose they could create a separate org, "Google Open Source" and put it there, but probably they'd like to reserve the right to own and then change the "not official" to "official" whenever they please. There are many lawyers and such at Google who think about these things more intensely than you and I do. I'm sure they have looked at all angles. EDIT: I do find it amusing to watch HN and other forums whenever something new and interesting is dumped under the /google org and people need to be convinced it's not some radical new direction Google is taking. But I've also been wrong before. I dismissed Fuchsia as a personal hobby project that grew out of control, until it grew out of control enough that it rm -r'd everything I'd been working on for 2+ years.
    - wmf 4y ago
      I'm sure the lawyers looked at all the legal angles but I don't know if they thought about the perception. But on a scale from 1 to "what were they thinking" this is pretty minor.
  - kvark 4y ago
    It’s very similar for Khronos, the github org of which contains projects that aren’t official Khronos products, but just something related and made by one of Khronos members.

Slightly curious why it's on the google github account, if it's not an official google project, or even endorsed by google? Surely this should live over on github.com/dragostis/forma then?

cmrdporcupine 4y ago

If you're a Google employee, there's a few different paths to 'legally' open sourcing stuff without violating your employment contract. The simplest and fastest one is just to assign copyright to Google, use an approved license (basically anything non-copyleft) and stick it under the google/ github org. It being there doesn't mean Google sponsored or authored it, just that a Googler worked/works on it. And the "not official Google product" text is mandatory in the README. There are other processes that allow you to retain copyright for yourself, but they require approval process. (I used to work at Google, and have followed this process before.)

afandian 4y ago
When you leave employment at Google do you typically retain your github account and contribution rights to the repo?
- cmrdporcupine 4y ago
  Most people I think just use their personal github but join the Google org. And then you get booted from it when you quit. Commit rights, I'm actually not clear on, but by default I think you'd lose rights. I believe there's likely a process for keeping them,, but I don't recall what it is. The one repo I contributed to that followed this process was essentially abandoned long before I left Google.
  - afandian 4y ago
    Thanks, that's interesting. Is any production Google code written this way, or is it only Google-adjacent open source?
    - cmrdporcupine 4y ago
      There are definitely things under the google github org that are used in production, though they are typically mirrored from Google3 in some way. But not sure what, if any, has its origins in a personal open source projects.
    - zem 4y ago
      i work on https://github.com/google/pytype https://github.com/google/pytype which is largely developed internally and then pushed to github every few days. the github commits are associated with the team's personal github accounts. pytype is not an "official google product" insofar as the open source version is presented as is without official google support, but it is "production code" in the sense that it is very much used extensively within google.
wmf 4y ago
Putting "not official Google products" under github.com/google is the dumbest policy. I wonder why they don't realize/care about this.
- cmrdporcupine 4y ago
  Yeah, I suppose they could create a separate org, "Google Open Source" and put it there, but probably they'd like to reserve the right to own and then change the "not official" to "official" whenever they please. There are many lawyers and such at Google who think about these things more intensely than you and I do. I'm sure they have looked at all angles. EDIT: I do find it amusing to watch HN and other forums whenever something new and interesting is dumped under the /google org and people need to be convinced it's not some radical new direction Google is taking. But I've also been wrong before. I dismissed Fuchsia as a personal hobby project that grew out of control, until it grew out of control enough that it rm -r'd everything I'd been working on for 2+ years.
  - wmf 4y ago
    I'm sure the lawyers looked at all the legal angles but I don't know if they thought about the perception. But on a scale from 1 to "what were they thinking" this is pretty minor.
- kvark 4y ago
  It’s very similar for Khronos, the github org of which contains projects that aren’t official Khronos products, but just something related and made by one of Khronos members.