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Google Open Sources Etherpad, Piratepad Launches

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the fair-play dept.

Thomas Nybergh writes "The Etherpad code was released by Google under the Apache license a few hours ago. Google's initial plan, after acquiring the service, was to use Etherpad's tech with its new Wave collaboration platform and to shut down the original service entirely. Soon after the Etherpad code was released, the Swedish Pirate Party launched their instance of the service at piratepad.net. An announcement, which also mentions a new Tor node, is published on the party website (Google translation). The original Etherpad service had in a short time become a killer application for collaborative work within at least the Swedish, and according to my personal experience, in the Finnish Pirate Party as well. The Etherpad open source project is available at Google Code."

40 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. For the unititiated... by julesh · · Score: 5, Informative

    there's a reasonable explanation of what it is on the home page.

    To the submitter, please include a link that explains what you're talking about next time.

    1. Re:For the unititiated... by Alef · · Score: 4, Informative

      Another little detail of information, in case anyone reads the links that are included in the summary:

      I noticed that Google Translate writes the last couple of sentences of the news release as:
      "PiratePad is freely available to all users. The party will save any logs from the service."
      What it actually says in Swedish is:
      "PiratePad is freely available to all users. The party will not save any logs from the service."

  2. Pretty awesome by NoTheory · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Happy to see a Google acquisition which has not entirely abandoned their existing userbase, as they are assimilated. The company i work for has picked up using etherpads here and there, and was intending on doing so further, until the acquisition. I guess we'll probably give the code base a run, and try installing an internal copy :) Rock on Etherpad & Google guys.

    --
    There are lives at stake here!
    1. Re:Pretty awesome by ilovegeorgebush · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I was just thinking about how this is Google's answer to "acquire and assimilate" business practices. When Oracle or Microsoft do it it's murder, but when Google do it they Open Source the product then abandon the original.

      Is this better?

      --
      ilovegeorgebush
    2. Re:Pretty awesome by AHuxley · · Score: 3, Funny

      MS grabs the tech and dumps the company in a shallow grave.
      Google grabs the tech and then markets the company as a tasty snack on the open day bbq.

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    3. Re:Pretty awesome by atheistmonk · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yes

    4. Re:Pretty awesome by Aldenissin · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Could this be good legislation to implement and curb or eliminate the Embrace=>Extend=>Extinguish business practices?

      When you buy out a company that makes software, you must open source the current code. This would make companies more valuable standalone and increase competition, and also allow those that should die off to die off. If another company does wish to invest, competition is still there since the code is now open source.

      --
      Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.
    5. Re:Pretty awesome by pipatron · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Ok, wait.. So if for example Apple would buy Adobe, they would have to make all their products Open Source? Is that what you're saying?

      --
      c++; /* this makes c bigger but returns the old value */
    6. Re:Pretty awesome by mr_da3m0n · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I this the parent's point was that a company acquiring another would have to either keep developping or support the target company's assets, or Open Source them instead of burying them in a shallow grave, never to be heard of again. Which would be a Good Thing (tm).

    7. Re:Pretty awesome by SharpFang · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It doesn't have to mean "lose all the software to the public".

      More like "create a public open branch of whatever was created to this day".
      Also, "open source" doesn't have to mean "free as a beer". You can grab the code, tamper with it, compile it, but to use it for anything meaningful you have to purchase a license, and to redistribute your modified code you must purchase a redistribution license, sending a part of your profit upstream.

      --
      45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
  3. EtherPad makes Google Wave look even worse by Robotech_Master · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Small wonder they wanted to acquire AppJet to send its programmers to the Google Wave slave mines to make Wave work more like EtherPad. I'm tickled pink they went through with their pledge to open-source it, and did it so quickly.

    Isn't it amazing? This is the code that was AppJet's entire revenue stream...and after Google bought them for ten million dollars, they're giving all that work away to the community, free.

    You can argue all you want about whether Google is really evil or not, but either way it certainly has its non-evil moments.

    --
    Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
    1. Re:EtherPad makes Google Wave look even worse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I honestly fear them more than anyone else at this point. That they can comfortably do things like this only shows how big they're getting!

    2. Re:EtherPad makes Google Wave look even worse by WGFCrafty · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Do you fear accepting gifts from friends due to their extraordinarily elaborate subconscious ploy to undermine and ultimately control you?

      Be afraid.

    3. Re:EtherPad makes Google Wave look even worse by TheCowSaysMooNotBoo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No, but I do from stores who collect my private data every time I shop there.

    4. Re:EtherPad makes Google Wave look even worse by Robotech_Master · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I really do think that this was the best thing that could possibly have happened to EtherPad. While it was still closed-source, it was locked up in the hands of one company. There was always the risk it could go away for good. (As very nearly happened right after Google bought them.) It's possible they might even have used the patent they claimed was "pending" to stifle competition if someone created a similar app from scratch.

      But now it belongs to all of us, and anyone with the expertise to set it up can run a pad server for his own writing circle or for the world. People might even hack in new features and share them, like that Wave Federation thing Iba mentioned in the blog post.

      But even if EtherPad's codebase stays the same forever, it's ours now and we can use it however we want.

      --
      Editor Emeritus and Senior Writer, TeleRead.org
    5. Re:EtherPad makes Google Wave look even worse by maxwell+demon · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Then it looks like shopping through the mail with a proxy type address and money orders prepaid with cash is for you!

      No, shopping through the mall with cash and without customer card is.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    6. Re:EtherPad makes Google Wave look even worse by emj · · Score: 3, Funny

      Shopping with your neighbors customer cards is even better.

    7. Re:EtherPad makes Google Wave look even worse by icebraining · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Not for long.

      --
      Dilbert RSS feed
    8. Re:EtherPad makes Google Wave look even worse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yeah, but it is java - what a total let-down. I was expecting real, usable code. Not java.

      Hopefully Google's intent is to re-write it all in python, php or c. Then I will be interested.

      I feel like the kid on Christmas who wanted a bike but got a sweater.

    9. Re:EtherPad makes Google Wave look even worse by Abreu · · Score: 3, Funny

      Give me tasty, juicy, delicious steaks and I'll go and plug back in...

      --
      No sig for the moment.
    10. Re:EtherPad makes Google Wave look even worse by Runaway1956 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Is there something wrong with the Apache license? I'm really not up on the nuances of open source licensing - but I thought Apache was "good". A lot like the BSD license, right? You're allowed to make money with the software, but you can't lock the software away. This is good, in my book. Money isn't the determining factor in my book (gratis), but the freedom to use the software (libre).

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    11. Re:EtherPad makes Google Wave look even worse by awyeah · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yes - you and I are the product!

      --
      Why, no, I haven't meta-moderated lately. Thanks for asking!
  4. A hint as to buy-out reasoning. by stimpleton · · Score: 4, Informative

    Etherpad is httpRequest javascript in a wysiwig which allowes collaborative editing in real time on a text doc with some rich text. My opinion is its a chat window where you type in the area the chat appears.

    In a screenshot on their page is the example text "...Etherpads patent-pending sychronization algorithm makes sure everyones edits are merged in realtime".

    I would see Gmail's live chat feature being quite close in concept. I wonder if Etherpad extended an open palm and inquired about renumeration.

    --

    In post Patriot Act America, the library books scan you.
    1. Re:A hint as to buy-out reasoning. by RedWizzard · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I would see Gmail's live chat feature being quite close in concept.

      I don't. Being able to go back and edit what someone else has written previously is a fundamentally different concept IMO.

    2. Re:A hint as to buy-out reasoning. by maxwell+demon · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Since this is about editing, I think you mean gnuserv.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    3. Re:A hint as to buy-out reasoning. by wootest · · Score: 3, Funny

      Yes, you're right, they're exactly the same thing.

  5. Ubuntu One Killer App by st1rguy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    If Canonical is serious about promoting their cloud platform this should be relatively easy for them to host and roll client access into their next desktop release. They could also host the server component in their repo to make it cake to install on internal servers as well. Wave without the "Google" would be awesome.

    1. Re:Ubuntu One Killer App by pydev · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Google got the better part of the product--the developers. Without good developers, the code is probably pretty much useless.

    2. Re:Ubuntu One Killer App by st1rguy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Not necessarily true, Etherpad is pretty solid. If they shifted some of the dev talent away from their silly attempt to make a online music store to something genuinely useful like real-time collaboration i can see that working in their benefit, at least to business users.

  6. Etherpad Wiki? by maxwell+demon · · Score: 5, Interesting

    What about using EtherPad for Wikis? Seems the perfect match: The learning curve is lower than for current Wiki markup (and ease of editing was one point of Wikis, after all), the history function is already included, and since it's now Open Source, the missing functionality (especially Wiki links) could easily be added.

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    1. Re:Etherpad Wiki? by emj · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Wikimedia is investigating WYSIWYG editting, and I think their conclusion was that "Yeah it works, but you can't mix it with text edits". There is something special about mediawiki text and Latex, which many current contributors like.

    2. Re:Etherpad Wiki? by maxwell+demon · · Score: 2, Informative

      Of course not every Wiki is MediaWiki, and even if you can't add it to MediaWiki or another existing Wiki, there's no reason why you couldn't create another Wiki based on EtherPad. It won't be used for Wikipedia, of course, but neither is MoinMoinWiki, UseModWiki or any of the other Wikis except MediaWiki.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  7. Re:Wow! This blows me away. by lattyware · · Score: 4, Informative

    As far as I am aware, the plan is to make Wave an open protocol, where it can be completely isolated from anything Google by running your own stuff.

    --
    -- Lattyware (www.lattyware.co.uk)
  8. Excellent Summary by glwtta · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I just have one tiny question after reading it: What the fuck is Etherpad?

    --
    sic transit gloria mundi
    1. Re:Excellent Summary by maxwell+demon · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, the first post is just a classic first post, rightly moderated down to -1. You probably meant RTFSP.

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  9. Re:Wow! This blows me away. by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 2

    Correct. Even MS, for example, could set up a Hotmail wave service. Wave is simply a protocol. http://www.waveprotocol.org/

  10. Huh? How is this better than wave... ? by brunes69 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You realize don't you that Google Wave is both open source AND open protocol?

    It is federated like Jabber, anyone who wants to can download the wave source code and run their own wave server. And because it is federated, your server is not a walled garden - you can still join waves hosted on OTHER servers.

    Seems far superior to this Etherpad in every sense of the word.

    1. Re:Huh? How is this better than wave... ? by D+Ninja · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Seems far superior to this Etherpad in every sense of the word.

      Technically speaking, Wave is superior (I've used both). However, what makes Etherpad so popular is that it is easier to use. As of this time, Wave is still in Alpha mode, and while I get it, many tech friends who have tried to use it really don't understand the applicability of the software. They don't see it as a much better way to collaborate. They still want to stick to traditional e-mail for organization (which I hate, particularly when conversation threading and search is not available in e-mail).

      So, Wave = Technically Stronger; Etherpad = Usability is Stronger. Add the good parts of the two together, and you get a much better project overall.

    2. Re:Huh? How is this better than wave... ? by BikeHelmet · · Score: 3, Funny

      (which I hate, particularly when conversation threading and search is not available in e-mail).

      It is in gmail.

      So Google's main competition to Wave is Google (Etherpad) and Google (Gmail) ?

      I love companies that never stop innovating.

  11. Not just piratepad.net - I also see uxoo.com ! by goneforaslash · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There is also uxoo.com. Free software at its best - other websites will certainly follow.

    Hopefully all these competing services will do to good old plain text edition something just as great as youtube did to videos.

    Start the competition!