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Google Launches New Website To Showcase Its Open Source Projects and Processes (betanews.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the open-source-community dept.

BrianFagioli writes: Google is an essential member of the open source community. The search giant contributes some really great projects, offering code to be used many -- it claims more than 2,000 such contributions! Heck, the company even hosts the annual Summer of Code program, where it pairs students with open source projects teams. In other words, Google is helping to get young folks excited about open source. Today, Google announced that it is launching an all-new website to focus on open source. It is not a general open source site, but a destination to learn more about the search-giant's relationship with it. "Today, we're launching opensource.google.com, a new website for Google Open Source that ties together all of our initiatives with information on how we use, release, and support open source. This new site showcases the breadth and depth of our love for open source. It will contain the expected things: our programs, organizations we support, and a comprehensive list of open source projects we've released. But it also contains something unexpected: a look under the hood at how we 'do' open source," says Will Norris, Open Source Programs Office, Google.

7 of 36 comments (clear)

  1. How Google does Open Source by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Funny

    1) Start hosting open source projects for free
    2) Stop hosting open source projects for free
    3) Profit!

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:How Google does Open Source by Tough+Love · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Wow, what an annoying front end. I don't want to see bouncy balls and random projects, I want some kind of rational, useful view, perhaps by popularity, contribution rate, dependent projects? Something that does not scream PR. Something that does not scream style over substance. As PR, this just reminds of Google's sad record of trying to force its anti-copyleft views on the community. So far, every random project that popped up is Apache-licensed. Hey Google, Apache may be your favourite license, it is not necessarily ours. Looks like the same arrogant people running this PR effort as Google's previous abandonware project hosting. At least they seem to have stopped beating the dead Subversion horse, that is at least something. All the random projects that popped up for me point at Github.

      If this page is indicative of how Google "does" open source, then Google has serious issues "doing" open source. Maybe Google should be less concerned about "doing" open source and more about participating in it.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    2. Re:How Google does Open Source by Tough+Love · · Score: 2

      Click the grid View button on the upper right

      Already did. Another lame view, what is it trying to be, pretty on a 4 inch handset? Why does it waste so much screen space, just to show a title, short description and icon? Continues the theme of form over function. Where is a simple list of all projects, one per line? That should be the base functionality, then shovel on the shiny, if you must. Or not. The kind of person who matters to this site doesn't want shiny, they want deep and functional. Take a look at Github if that isn't clear.

      --
      When all you have is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a thumb.
    3. Re:How Google does Open Source by trawg · · Score: 3, Interesting

      While I don't disagree with you (I hate fancy pants websites as much as the next nerd that just wants a plain text list of things), I'd note two things:

      1) There's a 'grid view' option at the top right of the list of projects that provides a simple interface to view the list. It's still not as good as a simple table list but it's better than the weird mess that you get by default.

      2) I have to wonder if part of the reason for this is to intentionally make it the sort of flashy shit that appeals to less nerdy more mainstream types (CxOs who want to see pretty colours and animations). Open source still has a reputation as ugly, scruffy, immature, etc (we can argue about whether that is deserved or not all day), and this approach makes it a little more slick.

      Perfectly willing to agree this is annoying. I want a table list. But if it helps people take a look at open source with fresh new eyes maybe it isn't all bad?

  2. This is a brilliant idea! by tlambert · · Score: 4, Funny

    This is a brilliant idea!

    I vote they name it "Google Labs"...

  3. Re:front-end GUI is crap by telchine · · Score: 2

    What do they think the target audience is ? Do they intend to sell Nike shoes ?

    Yup, hideous UI. whats wrong with a list?

  4. Re:Say one thing, do another by wnorris · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Our process for patching external projects is pretty straightforward (https://opensource.google.com/docs/patching/). Tell your buddies to contact me (they can look me up in our internal directory) and I can try to help address their concerns. -Will Norris