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Google Open Sources Its Data Interchange Format
A number of readers have noted Google's open sourcing of their internal data interchange format, called Protocol Buffers (here's the code and the doc). Google elevator statement for Protocol Buffers is "a language-neutral, platform-neutral, extensible way of serializing structured data for use in communications protocols, data storage, and more." It's the way data is formatted to move around inside of Google. Betanews spotlights some of Protocol Buffers' contrasts with XML and IDL, with which it is most comparable. Google's blogger claims, "And, yes, it is very fast — at least an order of magnitude faster than XML."
You mean, without a C++ compiler?
Get real. Many of us working in the industry don't give a damn to C++.
So... the only factor in determining how "good" a company is is though what percentage of its products are open-source? I hate to shatter your Stallman-derived utopian view of the world, but not every company can make money (which is the purpose of a company, BTW, not to make nifty little code trinkets for you to play with) by having entirely open-source products. If Google open-sourced its advertising-content generators, for example, any two-bit web startup could use them and make just as much money, and Google would be no more. Get real.
Ummm... Lets see here... Red Hat's code is open so anyone can take code and make a distro out of that and charge nothing, oh wait, they have it is called Cent-OS, I don't see Red Hat filing for bankruptcy like a lot of proprietary software vendors have. Nor Canonical which has the open-source Ubuntu. Face it proprietary software is dying .
And on your example, yes. But who are you going to use some company you have never heard of or Google for your advertising?
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.