The Fantasy of Google as Saviour (Saving Us From Microsoft Monopoly)
A Fata Morgana for our generation
THIS might disappoint a lot of people, but Google hired a lot of people - perhaps way too many people - from Microsoft. It started happening over a decade ago and it did not stop. To give one notable example (mentioned here only weeks ago), Sasha Levin moved directly from Microsoft to Google. Levin is the unofficial "deputy" of Greg Kroah-Hartman (K-H), who is a faithful servant of Sheela Microsoft and Jim Zemlin at the Linux Foundation.
This morning we wrote 4 rants about what Google had decided it would do to Ogg Theora and there's a strong response to that move, including in our IRC network. People are shocked, disappointed, and some even angry (using language that would invoke a Code of Censorship complaint). But, hey, what did you expect? That Google would support the Open Web? Google has worked against it for ages already, so why stop now? It quit pretending not to be evil unless you ask Google.
Just like Apple, which is another vicious company (more so than Google), Google wants total domination. GAFAM in general have been using software patents to protect the oligopolies/monopolies, sheltering themselves from competition that cannot shell out money for blanket licensing. Over a decade ago we wrote about Apple working against Ogg (and Steve Jobs directly responding to the FSF-EEE on this matter; it was well over a decade ago; Hugo Roy has moved on since then, not bothering with the FSF-EEE anymore).
Never ever rely on or assume Google will fight for software freedom, standards etc. Heck, Google recently laid off some of its most famous Free software people. You did not notice, did you? They prefer it that way. They were like corporate "trophy wives" and Google is done exploiting them. The openwashing charade is done. Now it's time for the DRM shitshow.
"Part of the problem," an associate told us, "a really big part of the problem at that, is that most MBAs and the engineers sucking up to them admire having to shell out big money just to use a codec. They seem to go out of their way to seek such codecs and to avoid standards which are in any way open. I'm sure it's an ideological decision because it sure as heck does not make financial sense. WebP is an image format and so not a decent comparison, except that it points to the fact that Google is not a bout either security or open standards."
Google should just take a hike; in recent years it actively attacked or proactively defamed Free software people. That says a lot about Google's vision as a company. More than a decade ago Google kept trying to hire me; when I opened my mouth in more recent years their employees tried to 'cancel' me. As the Fediverse says, #FuckOffGoogle! █