Expanding Fuchsia's open source model

#1

Post by tbodt » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 5:00 PM UTC

Expanding Fuchsia's open source model
opensource.googleblog.com

Re: Expanding Fuchsia's open source model

#2

Post by Ericson2314 » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 5:21 PM UTC

I hope this doesn't mean they are divesting.

Re: Expanding Fuchsia's open source model

#3

Post by torben-friis » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 5:22 PM UTC

I'm still not clear on what fuchsia is trying to be - or more specifically, why is Google developing it. What is the end goal here, from a business perspective?

Re: Expanding Fuchsia's open source model

#4

Post by mmastrac » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 5:23 PM UTC

I've heard Fuchsia referred to as a "principal engineer retention project" at Google. I'd be curious to know if others have heard the same.

Re: Expanding Fuchsia's open source model

#5

Post by jsnell » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 5:25 PM UTC

I find it kind of hilarious how large a proportion of the roadmap is just migrations of various kinds. If the goal here was to encourage external contributions, I can't imagine a much worse sales pitch.

Re: Expanding Fuchsia's open source model

#6

Post by nicoburns » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 5:26 PM UTC

Wish they'd use this kind of development model for Android!

Re: Expanding Fuchsia's open source model

#7

Post by Kinrany » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 5:26 PM UTC

mmastrac wrote: post #4

I've heard Fuchsia referred to as a "principal engineer retention project" at Google. I'd be curious to know if others have heard the same.

I wonder if this could be turned into a better way to fund public research.

Re: Expanding Fuchsia's open source model

#8

Post by [deleted] » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 5:26 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Expanding Fuchsia's open source model

#9

Post by notatoad » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 5:34 PM UTC

mmastrac wrote: post #4

I've heard Fuchsia referred to as a "principal engineer retention project" at Google. I'd be curious to know if others have heard the same.

i've definitely heard that said before here on HN. are you hearing it referred to that way internally at google?

Re: Expanding Fuchsia's open source model

#10

Post by brandmeyer » Tue, Dec 08, 2020, 5:36 PM UTC

Looks like you still cannot contribute without granting copyright ownership to Google. In turn, GOOG licenses it out under a BSD (or BSD-like) license.

This is a big difference relative to Linux, and its part of why Linux works so well as a collaboration between competitors. The GPL's copyleft acts as a joint development agreement between equals.

IMO, Fuchsia's model only works well for integration partners that are willing to act as sharecroppers in the ecosystem. That certainly does work for some device manufacturers, but it cannot serve as the foundation of a new Free operating system.