Google On Open Source
There is a great article by Alan Noble is head of engineering for Google Australia and New Zealand on Stuff.co.nz.
Since its origins many years ago, the internet has been a collaboration between computer scientists around the world, made possible by the open, non-proprietary nature of the technology on which it’s built.
The same open philosophy and shared technology standards have driven the development of many of the web’s applications, which are increasingly developed on ‘open source’.
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At Google, we love open source for a few reasons. First, it speeds innovation. Open source lowers the barrier to entry for users, website owners, and application developers. It means there can be another Google, or another Yahoo!, started from someone’s garage in Auckland or Arhus with very little capital required, because the building blocks for success are freely available.It also reduces inefficiency. In the past, developers wasted time and resources to write web code to cover basic functions common to most websites-like registration pages.
Nowadays, thanks to open code-sharing initiatives, developers don’t need to waste time reinventing the wheel. Moreover, as more sharing of code occurs, weaker solutions are weeded out in favor of more robust models.
And finally, it makes economic sense. Although it may sound counterintuitive to give something away for free, the resulting popularity and innovation pays off.
This was an awesome read - and while the focus is Why open source is good for Google, I think it can also be translated into why open source is good for EVERYONE 
February 18th, 2009 at 10:40 am
I have a love-hate relationship with Google because they don’t seem to give all that much back to free and open source software when you compare it $5bn-or-so per quarter that they’re making from it. code.google.com? There are many other hosting services and some of them are run by non-profits who offer more support, so you can probably make a good estimate of how much it costs if you examine the accounts of one of the non-profits.
How would you feel if someone took some of the fantastic free and open source software that LibLime has helped to develop, made lots and lots of money out of it and gave only a small fraction back to the original community? I reckon the post about that wouldn’t get a smiley.
February 18th, 2009 at 10:43 am
Sorry, I should have written “getting from it” not “making from it”.
February 18th, 2009 at 11:59 am
I agree with you - I think I more liked what was said than who was saying it - like I said I think the way it’s written can be translated into why open source is good for everyone