While we were thrilled with Google’s many announcements at Google I/O, particularly the announcements that went against the grain of Apple’s one-man-one-device ethos, we have to take the company’s claims to openness, choice and freedom with a grain of salt.
This is America, Google is a major and successful corporation, and as such, it will be “open” usually when such behavior is profitable. The company’s not going to open-source its search algorithm any time soon, for example, or make its advertising software free for modification and redistribution.
Relative to other corporations, such as Apple, Google does a commendable job of not “being evil,” but it still controls a ton of user data and infringes on user freedoms in specific ways. We choose to relinquish these freedoms in exchange for conveniences such as Google search, Gmail, Blogger, Buzz, Maps, Reader and a score of other applications.
Not long ago, we sat down with Free Software Foundation and GNU founder Richard Stallman, a pioneer and legend in the free and open source communities. With a lifestyle and philosophy that are famous for their single-minded dedication to technological freedom, Stallman is better qualified than just about anyone to examine how “open” a company like Google truly is.
Take a look at this video, and let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Note: Stallman asked that we use Ogg Theora, an open format, for encoding this video. To download the original video, go to its Wikimedia page. This video is published under a Creative Commons-No Derivatives license.
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Tags: apple, free software, Google, open source, Stallman
