Google Gives Reason Why it is Built on Linux

Rob writes "A common reason why more governments and enterprises around the world are moving to open source software is unhappiness, it was revealed during a panel discussion at the LinuxWorld Conference in San Francisco yesterday. Google Inc open source programs manager Chris DiBona said the search giant has stuck with Linux throughout the company's life, in part, because it was unhappy with the terms of another software company. Which borgware company is he referring to?"

Comments

Which borgware company is he referring to?

[Anonymous Coward]

Which borgware company is he referring to?

It's Apple.

Surprise.

Re:Which borgware company is he referring to?

[mattjb0010]

Apple Surprise

A camping recipe from Patty. This recipe can be made in quantity for as many as you want to serve in the campground.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 - 4 apples
• shelled walnuts
• butter or maple syrup

PREPARATION:

Cut apples into slices and take out core. Place apples on aluminum foil. Add walnuts and butter or maple syrup. Fold foil leaving an opening for ventilation. Place on campfire and cook at least 45 minutes, or until apples are soft, not mushy.

Servings: 4
Preparation time: 15 minutes

Apple?

[stoolpigeon]

Seriously-- yeah it is MS, but the problem exists with any proprietary technology. The company doesn't need to be borg-like, just closed.
 
I've had plenty of jobs where we got locked in on the O.S. or on applications and it sucks. It is a rotten feeling when you want something changed but it is either impossible or it will cost you an arm and a leg. (Then you have to wait on their timing too)
 
I know throwing apple out there is a bit inflammatory around here but it proves the point. There are plenty of bad options out there without even pointing out Microsoft.

Unsurprising!

[Tiberius_Fel]

Google does a lot of things differently than most OSes are meant for. It's only logical that they'd choose one that they can customize to their needs...

Not so sure

[einhverfr]

He was refering to Microsoft!

The article seems to imply that. But on closer reading, it indicates that Microsoft was just used as an example. The same would have been equally true of Sun, SGI, IBM, etc. And when you really look at what they were doing with Google, I think that Sun is actually more likely to have been the target than Microsoft.

Re:Not so sure

[chrisd]

In fact, I'm not even sure I said Microsoft at all during my few minutes up there. I was trying to say that one of thde truly cool things about Linux is that you don't have to talk to anyone outside the company or whatever if you want to mess with it.

I may have said 'Microsoft, or any other commercial os'. I mean, hate to say it, but the Microsoft XP Kernel isn't terrible, I just don't want all the stuff around it (windowing systems, etc..).

Chris

Re:Not so sure

[erroneous]

Please don't allow your inconvenient alleged "facts" and "first-hand knowledge" and the fact that the story is about "you" get in the way of a good old-fashioned slashdot Microsoft bash.

giving back

[mattfite]

if they've relied on it so much, it would be nice if some of their apps would run on linux.

Re:giving back

[Fjornir]

Ignoring, for instance, the Summer of Code (and all of the other grants they've made) Google has made one contribution to Linux users everywhere: google.com.

To start with, Google is the most well-known poster-child of Linux success. If you don't think that adds value to every other opensource project, well... *shrug*

As a more tangible and direct benefit I can say that google.com is an immense resource as far as answering any Linux question which comes my way. Between the web search and usenet search features they provide to everyone free it makes using Linux a lot easier. Stop in on any Linux IRC channel and you'll see what I mean. I volunteer off and on doing Linux support and I can tell you that without Google there would be a lot of questions that I would be unable to answer.

Just a thought...

Finally...

[darthgnu]

It's good to see some company finally step up to the plate and publicly admits that free/open source software provides independence and freedom. IBM, Novell, HP always put out the "cheaper" argument which is seen as "less value".

OT: Traffic impact by Google Personalized Homepage

[vinlud]

This is offtopic, but because it didn't survive the submission I did I thought it would be best to post it attached to another Google story.

A few days ago I noticed several websites which are linked by default in the Google Personalized Homepage show staggering increases in web traffic and page views. According to Alexa.com Wired more than doubled and also Slashdot , the NY Times and the Washington Post show remarkable growth at the end of july.

Is this a redefinition of 'slashdotting' or is there something else going on?

goooogle

[gadzook33]

Even if he is referring to MS, it's not as if google can be considered impartial. They must have known they'd be competing with redmond on one level or another. How would it sound if someone said to them, yeah but doesn't your search technology run on Windows? Not horrible but not great either. Especially if the competition becomes even more heated.

Borgware, hmm... let me guess...

[Junior J. Junior III]

Amiga?

No, no wait... DEC. Yeah! Google is so fast because it does NOT run on a PDP-10.

Re:Licensing restrictions = per-CPU licensing

[darkonc]

RTFA. Paying for an entire OS when you're essentially using it as a boot loader wasn't the biggest thing to stick in Google's craw. Having to go ask for permission to be able to stick your nose deep into the kernel and pull out, tweak or seriously crank parts of the OS is what really irked them -- and now that Bill considers Google to be their competition, I can easily see Microsoft yanking them around on a chain at every opportunity.

Imagine being a Professional Nascar team, and having to ask Gates Motors (GM) for permission every time they re-tune their machine ... then finding out that the President of GM has gotten into Nascar racing. ... Then they start asking you to provide full details of your tuning methods "to ensure that our cars don't get a bad safety reputation".
It's all downhill from there.

OSS Advantages

[Mandrel]

I'm amazed at how increasingly irrelevant Microsoft products are becoming to my use of computers, both privately and as a developer. With OSS, the fact that I can fix it myself trumps any modest disparity in features, maturity, or price.

And the price of OSS is not its main draw. I chose to develop a number of projects with Java rather than Visual Studio because VS was expensive to buy, while Java cost nothing. But then I was frustrated by my dependence on Sun to fix problems in the closed VM and class libraries. So I'm now developing on an OSS language and framework.

Microsoft Cluster Server?

[Bananatree3]

Why not just move the entire Google code base to Microsoft Cluster Server? I know it would mean a complete rewrite from the bottom up, and would require a whole new training program. You would also have to worry about serious security issues in the OS because you can't inspect the code. You would have to rely on a competitor to patch up problems. You would have to wait during "patch turnround time" which could be months (or never if Microsoft thinks its not really a big deal). You would have to be forced in to doing things the way Microsoft wants you to do things, and use their own "Super Secure" programs. And thats just the OS. You would have to pay through the nose on those pesky Site licences. To upgrade, theres another several hundred thousand (or millions) of dollars. And when they release Version 2.0, you have to go around and upgrade all the machines the way Microsoft wants you too.

But! You would have the comfort of knowing that you are running a Certified Microsoft(R) Product!

Must stop using slashdot vocabulary

[Hydraulix]

I almost got my ass kicked for using the word "borgware" today.