"I think they could actually spend some resources to give back to the community"
Did you hear about the "Summer of Code" project from Google?
They gave the code for the changes they made to linux in their Search Appliances.
"So basically they are using an open source product to create a closed source program"
As you said your self Jabber is an open standard and not a software. They are using the standard to make their own software.
If you read the FAQ on the talk.google.com you'll notice that they are planning to give the Specs and other information about the voice protocol too so that other developers can use it in their own clients.
Google has a "Delete GMail service" link on the account settings page. They actually have a link to "Delete all account info". So, in theory when you click this link and confirm it should delete all this information right away. The catch that it might stay on their servers for a few days might be because they have to have redundant copies all over the world and there would be some lag time in deleting all those, not to mention the tape backups. So, I would say, the security concerns are overblown and from people who don't understand the system properly. Google should definitely take some initiative in educating people about how the system works.
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"I think they could actually spend some resources to give back to the community" Did you hear about the "Summer of Code" project from Google? They gave the code for the changes they made to linux in their Search Appliances. "So basically they are using an open source product to create a closed source program" As you said your self Jabber is an open standard and not a software. They are using the standard to make their own software. If you read the FAQ on the talk.google.com you'll notice that they are planning to give the Specs and other information about the voice protocol too so that other developers can use it in their own clients.
Dude! When was the last time you took an IQ test?
Google has a "Delete GMail service" link on the account settings page. They actually have a link to "Delete all account info". So, in theory when you click this link and confirm it should delete all this information right away. The catch that it might stay on their servers for a few days might be because they have to have redundant copies all over the world and there would be some lag time in deleting all those, not to mention the tape backups. So, I would say, the security concerns are overblown and from people who don't understand the system properly. Google should definitely take some initiative in educating people about how the system works.