4 ms·

Out of curiosity, would you explain what you mean by that? Google was founded in 1998 and writing a mail client isn't terribly complicated. Did they buy some co

Out of curiosity, would you explain what you mean by that? Google was founded in 1998 and writing a mail client isn't terribly complicated. Did they buy some code for Gmail from an older company? Is Gmail older than Google?

randall 10mo ago
it is not. gmail is 100% from paul bucheit.
- Alex3917 10mo ago
  He wasn't sitting there writing binary code and implementing all 7 layers of the OSI stack by hand, he was was gluing together pre-existing components. And the pre-existing components he had access to include two major email startups acquired by Google in 2001 and 2003, which were founded in 1995 and 1997 respectively. (Although he does have at least two patents for features and algorithms he co-invented while making Gmail.)
  - estebank 10mo ago
    If I invite you to a barbeque and tell you I made lunch, will you tell me off because I didn't raise and butcher the cow?
    - toyg 10mo ago
      This is more like using a sauce that someone else made.
wordpad 10mo ago
A full featured mailed client is insanely complicated. If you think mail client is just smtp, you probably think word is just text with some styling and excel is just some cells and functions.
- appreciatorBus 10mo ago
  I’m sure, buried somewhere deep in Google systems, are vestiges of mail server code originally written in the 80s. But when people use the name Gmail, they are generally referring to the client facing web app, which does not have any such code.
  - surajrmal 10mo ago
    If it exists, it's probably not at all related to Gmail or only used for testing. I don't think Google reuses a lot of third party code in its first party server software.
    - HeWhoLurksLate 10mo ago
      https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/18-956_d18f.pdf https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/18-956_d18f.pdf I mean it has happened in other Google products...
- dboreham 10mo ago
  Even "just smtp" isn't trivial.
  - pshirshov 10mo ago
    It is, or was at least. At the age of 13, I've created one for Windows. It was relatively widely used at the time.
esseph 10mo ago
Gmail is not just a mail client.
- ape4 10mo ago
  The spam checker alone is an ton of work. It needs to handle millions of mails for millions of users a day.
  - sgjohnson 10mo ago
    Nitpick: pretty sure both of those are in the billions. Mails could even be in the trillions.
deleted 10mo ago
[deleted]
Alex3917 10mo ago
> Did they buy some code for Gmail from an older company? They bought both Deja and Neotonic.

randall 10mo ago

it is not. gmail is 100% from paul bucheit.

Alex3917 10mo ago
He wasn't sitting there writing binary code and implementing all 7 layers of the OSI stack by hand, he was was gluing together pre-existing components. And the pre-existing components he had access to include two major email startups acquired by Google in 2001 and 2003, which were founded in 1995 and 1997 respectively. (Although he does have at least two patents for features and algorithms he co-invented while making Gmail.)
- estebank 10mo ago
  If I invite you to a barbeque and tell you I made lunch, will you tell me off because I didn't raise and butcher the cow?
  - toyg 10mo ago
    This is more like using a sauce that someone else made.

wordpad 10mo ago

A full featured mailed client is insanely complicated. If you think mail client is just smtp, you probably think word is just text with some styling and excel is just some cells and functions.

appreciatorBus 10mo ago
I’m sure, buried somewhere deep in Google systems, are vestiges of mail server code originally written in the 80s. But when people use the name Gmail, they are generally referring to the client facing web app, which does not have any such code.
- surajrmal 10mo ago
  If it exists, it's probably not at all related to Gmail or only used for testing. I don't think Google reuses a lot of third party code in its first party server software.
  - HeWhoLurksLate 10mo ago
    https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/18-956_d18f.pdf https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/20pdf/18-956_d18f.pdf I mean it has happened in other Google products...
dboreham 10mo ago
Even "just smtp" isn't trivial.
- pshirshov 10mo ago
  It is, or was at least. At the age of 13, I've created one for Windows. It was relatively widely used at the time.

esseph 10mo ago

Gmail is not just a mail client.

ape4 10mo ago
The spam checker alone is an ton of work. It needs to handle millions of mails for millions of users a day.
- sgjohnson 10mo ago
  Nitpick: pretty sure both of those are in the billions. Mails could even be in the trillions.

deleted 10mo ago

[deleted]

Alex3917 10mo ago

> Did they buy some code for Gmail from an older company? They bought both Deja and Neotonic.