Google’s slow transformation into an open, transparent company
Posted by: admin in Business and PoliticsTo some, Google has long been a champion of open source, hiring top open-source developers and contributing to a range of open-source projects, in addition to its Summer of Code. To others, Google has been the worst enemy of open source, bumping AGPL-based code of its Code.Google.com and only selectively contributing back to the projects like Linux and MySQL from which it derives benefit.
I’ve been in both camps. One thing is increasingly clear to me, however: Google is opening up to open source.
Earlier this week, I noted its Google I/O Conference, which will serve open source’s most important constituency: developers. CNET News.com reporter Steve Shankland writes of Google’s Android as “Google’s highest-profile attempt so far to use the collaborative programming method to change how computing is done outside the company’s walls.”
All good. But it’s actually Google’s promised transparency about its crown jewels–its search algorithms–that makes me think Google is finally ready to truly open up. Perhaps this newfound transparency derives from its 61 percent search market share, but the shift is welcome, if still hesitant:
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