Nov
13
Google’s Android: An Open Source Nightmare
November 13, 2007 |
The youtube video you see here has been produced by Google. It starts out, innocently enough, as a demo of some of the features that have been developed for Android (Google’s mobile phone operating system).
Spoiler Alert!!: If you are a fan or devotee of open source software this video ends badly with Sergey Brin pounding a stake through the heart of the open-source community.
Am I, perhaps, being a bit overdramatic? I’m not so sure. Watch for yourself as Brin announces a $10 million financial incentive that seems guaranteed to pervert the intrinsic, community centered, value system that has come to characterize FOSS (free and open source software).
So many metaphors come to mind but a tragedy-in-the-making of this magnitude calls for Shakespeare.
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Romeo and Juliet: It is the scene where Romeo is trying to make nice to Juliet’s disfunctional family. While attempting to prevent violence between Tibault (Juliet’s boorish kinsman) and Mercutio (Romeo’s likeable, wise-ass cousin) Romeo accidentally gets Mercutio killed.
If you’re at all like me the death of Mercutio was the real tragedy in this story and he was every bit justified in calling for a plague on Montagues and Capulets alike. The whole long, drawn out parade of miscommunications that followed and resulted in the death of two spoiled, misguided kids was beside the point.
“What are you talking about?” I hear you say. Well, Google is Romeo and the Telecom industry is Juliet. Google’s cousin, the affable, sharp-witted open-source community, is Mercutio…….
Okay, so maybe this isn’t the best metaphor but Romeo says something after Mercutio dies that is relevant to this conversation.
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This day’s black fate on more days doth depend;
This but begins the woe, others must end.
Brin has just put $10 million dollars on the table in a blatant attempt to monetize the Free Open Source Movement. It is a black day indeed. The Open Source movement is built upon collaboration and the idea that, by helping one another, we will help ourselves by creating innovative and useful solutions to mutual problems. The rewards are increased prestige, the feeling of a job well done, and a product that will make our lives, and the lives of others, easier.
By monetizing the process Brin and Google have effectively introduced an extrinsic reward system that possesses none of the altruistic values that the FOSS community hold dear. As Romeo said, “This but begins the woe, others must end”. But who ends it, and how, will make all the difference.
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Have you noticed how google android looks like iPhone operational system?
Compare the functions shown in the videos below:
weshow.com/us/p/23362/google_android_demo
weshow.com/us/p/18795/iphone_home_made_review
What do you think? Will google bring iPhone power to everyone who can’t afford apple products? That would be great