Google to users: you're not the boss of me now!

Those are  excerpts from conversations between Chris DiBona, Open Source program manager at Google and  Google code users. Enjoy!

Can you remove my project? (I)

• User: ..Therefore, I kindly request you to remove the above code projects ...
• Google: Why should they be deleted? (..) removing old version from the reliable repository internet is a bad thing for the program, computer history and for open source.

Go to the post. Obviously Google is the Internet repository. And removing from Google is bad for open source. So... project leaders are irresponsible?

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Can you remove my project? (II)

• User: ..Please delete project "fsog". It's covered by the AGPL license ...
• Google: Done. Thanks.

Go to the post Well, that was fast. No questions? You're sure? It's baaaad for open source!

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Google psychic

• User: .. Only if the provisions of the Affero license became part of the GPL would they be of interest to us...
• Google: Then it wouldn't be GPL and thus you shouldn't use the site. Sorry.

Go to the post Impressive psychic ability: how does he know it won't be GPL? The GPL will be released only 3 months later (and without the Affero clause which inclusion was on discussion)

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Ideologist ... yet pragmatic

• User: ...Not to press the issue, but why the push to restrict licensing choices ...
  
• Google: .. ideologically, we feel that the number of open source licensing reduces the overall effectiveness of open source .

Go to the post So are we in the realm of ideology or in the realm of pragmatism? I guess pragmatism if you look at Google track record in China...

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You're not the boss of me now!

• User: ...Thanks Chris, but I need you to disambiguate that a bit. Are you saying ...
• Google: You need me to disambiguate for you? I think you need to go find my employment documents and find out where it says I work for you.

Go to the post From his wiki: Mr. DiBona is an internationally known advocate of open source software and related methodologies. 

Advocate? That's another word for lawyer, right?

UPDATE:  answers from Chris DiBona to MilkingTheGNU

More posts on Google:

• Freedom of Speech: the long tail of Google
• GNU Affero: Microsoft jubilates, Google cries
• Goggle = Microsoft, same fights, same tactics, different monopoly

 

Comments

[Matt Doar]

I went back and read the whole thread for the fifth point, and it seems to be just another whining-about-licenses thread. At the end Chris gets irritated about being told he *needs* to do something by someone who could have probably have used a better turn of phrase.

So is Chris really as autocratic and erratic as you indicate, or is he just an easy target for some general Google-swiping?

~Matt

p.s. I don't know any of the individuals involved, nor am I employed by Google.

[mtg]

Same here, I don't know Chris nor do I know the other protagonists. Just happened to read various posts/threads and found it funny at times so I thought I would share my findings.

Chris, if you read this, the beer (or better the vine*) is on me. :)

update(*): I guess I meant 'wine' but hey, must have had the 'grapevine' in mind ...

[Chris DiBona]

I enjoy Beer and Wine, so you're covered :-) Find me at Oscon?

I am sometimes a little autocratic, and while it is easy to look like a nutjob when you bring in these various quotes, they're consistent with our various open source related missions.

For instance: We're fighting license proliferation and at the same time we want to preserve the history of open source software. Those two missions sometimes look inconsistent. Add in our support of other licenses via our funding activities and our projects like the summer of code, and it looks even more inconsistent.

Should we ban groups from the SoC that use licenses we feel are redundant? We don't think so. We think that would be bad for our other mission of creating new open source developers.

[mtg]

@chris:

I'm glad to learn SoC is open to all projects, including those with licenses not allowed on Google code.

But then, why make Google code less ... open then? I mean, why the difference?

Also I don't want to sound picky but Google doesn't 'create new open source developers' only project opportunities for FOSS developers to emerge ... and also to get noticed by Google recruiters? ;)

This being said SoC is a great initiative indeed.

[Chris DiBona]

Actually, we think that creating individual pools of software that cannot be shared amongst other licenses is less open, which is why we are against license proliferation.

SoC isn't much about recruiting, but more about creating more open source code and developers.

[mtg]

@chris:

So the argument is that of compatibility? (e.g. creating less 'pools') but then by the same token you could have only the X/MIT license ...

It raises another issue though: does it mean Google doesn't really trust the OSI?

What if OSI starts delivering say an "Open Choice Repository" label to those repositories offering all OSI-approved licenses; does Google code want to end-up next to Microsoft CodePlex which denies hosting to GPLv3 projects?