How is it a win for Google to release something open-source that had potentially cost them lots of money? Even if they don't need and pursue it anymore, why would they just give it to the competition?
It's always easily said to "just open-source" it but Google is a business and owes outside software developers nothing.
How can another company compete with a product Google no longer offers? There is no competition because Google quit competing.
If Google spins up a project and then abandons it, how could they possibly be harmed by someone else offering a comparable product? Google has already accepted a total loss on the product, there's really nothing for them to lose here.
It's a win, because people will not fear Google shuttering their experiments, and thus will be more likely to use them. It's also a win, in that it furthers a common good: if Google abandons a venture, why would they be upset if someone picks it up and succeeds? It's also a win, in that it boosts the open-source community (or industry, whatever you want to call it), which is also a win-win. If you want to by cynical, it would also be a win in that you could spin a narrative about how Google's monopoly-fueled profits trickle-down via open-source projects and thus unregulated capitalism works.
How is it a win for Google to release something open-source that had potentially cost them lots of money? Even if they don't need and pursue it anymore, why would they just give it to the competition? It's always easily said to "just open-source" it but Google is a business and owes outside software developers nothing.
How can another company compete with a product Google no longer offers? There is no competition because Google quit competing.
If Google spins up a project and then abandons it, how could they possibly be harmed by someone else offering a comparable product? Google has already accepted a total loss on the product, there's really nothing for them to lose here.
What benefit do they see in exchange for the effort in open sourcing things?
It's certainly a win for the rest of us, but how does Google benefit to make it a "win-win", and not just a "win"?
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It's a win, because people will not fear Google shuttering their experiments, and thus will be more likely to use them. It's also a win, in that it furthers a common good: if Google abandons a venture, why would they be upset if someone picks it up and succeeds? It's also a win, in that it boosts the open-source community (or industry, whatever you want to call it), which is also a win-win. If you want to by cynical, it would also be a win in that you could spin a narrative about how Google's monopoly-fueled profits trickle-down via open-source projects and thus unregulated capitalism works.
If they did it would probably have to be rewritten as it probably depends on a ton of internal google systems.
You're right. I guess this illustrates a downside of closed-source and walled-gardens.