Guido at Google

Ilias Lazaridis ilias at lazaridis.com
Thu Dec 22 01:47:09 EST 2005


Greg Stein wrote:
> Yeah... we recognize that we could certainly open-source more of our
> software. While we've released some stuff
> (code.google.com/projects.html), there is a LOT more that we want to

http://code.google.com/projects.html

> do. Getting engineers' 20% time to do that has been difficult.
> Thankfully, we know how to fix that and got the okay/headcount to make
> it happen. (IOW, it isn't a lack of desire, but making it happen)

When a company like Google open's sources, this means simply nothing 
more than:

  - the software is not critical to their business (e.g. core-software)
  - the internal resources cannot ensure further development

See IBM, SUN and others, which have done the same thing.

> But even if we haven't been able to open-source as much code as we'd
> like, we *have* been trying to be very supportive of the community.
> Between the Summer of Code and direct cash contributions, we've
> provided a LOT of support to a large number of open source
> organizations.

I hope that you invest some time to _organize_ the Open Source Projects.

Starting with Python and it's project-structure (e.g. build-process) and 
documentation (e.g. ensuring standard-terminology is kept, like "class")

e.g.: where can I find an UML diagramm of the Python Object Model?

Even Ruby has one:

http://lazaridis.com/case/lang/ruby/TheRubyObjectModel.png

-

> And we have a couple other ideas on how to help the open source
> community. We're working on it!

The open-source-community can help Google, too!

E.g.:  Google needs an public Issue-Tracking-System.

I needed around 30 emails and 2 months until google-groups-support 
removed a bug which broke(!) existent links to google archives. (cannot 
find the topic. Simply search your support-archives to see the desaster).

With publicity, the team would have removed the bug within one week.

> Cheers,
> -g

And finally:

If Mr. van Rossum is now at Google, and Python is essentially a Mr. van 
Rossum based product, then most possibly the evolution-speed of Python 
will decrease even more (Google will implement things needed by Google - 
van Rossum will follow, so simple).

I mean, when will this language finally become a _really_ fully 
Object-Oriented one, with a clean reflective Meta-Model?

Thus I can see Python pass this this _simple_ evaluation (which it does 
not pass in its current implementation):

http://lazaridis.com/case/lang/python.html

-

I have around one year to await.

Will see.

.

-- 
http://lazaridis.com



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