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Why I hate Google, or some thoughts about “open” technologies

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Re: Why I hate Google, or some thoughts about “open” technologies

#31

Post by angeldar »

smnrchrds wrote: post #30

We've been suffering this for ages in Iran. But in retrospect, it has been a blessing more than a curse. For example, until a year ago, Android Market and later Play Store were unavailable in Iran. Even now, many (most?) popular apps are unavailable for Iranians, e.g Facebook, Messenger, etc. This has given rise to a series of new start-ups, aiming to fill the void left by major multinational corporations. Right now…

Thanks for sharing your experience, this is new point of view on the situation for me.

Re: Why I hate Google, or some thoughts about “open” technologies

#32

Post by dang »

viktorsovietov wrote: post #17

well, google's not your bitch, you know

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Re: Why I hate Google, or some thoughts about “open” technologies

#33

Post by forthefuture »

bumpcat wrote: post #18
hahainternet wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> IMHO sanctions are never better than anything and are unfair by definition. You can compare them to antibiotic - destroying both good ones and bad ones. But antibiotics are better than most other options. That's why we use them. > Majority of people do not want any sanctions, no matter what side they are on. It's the government and politicians that want it, not the people. The people do not want war. Sanctions are…

People are free to do with their own bodies whatever they think is best. But in Crimea people are being punished because Obama or some other idiot thinks it's good to do so. I don't think it's fair that a group of corrupted politicians get to decide the fate of a nation literally on the other side of the planet. Also preventing someone from accessing a public information or from doing business is already a form of vi…

> I don't think it's fair that a group of corrupted politicians get to decide the fate of a nation literally on the other side of the planet.

I'd suggest you direct that towards Russia then. You can't have it both ways. You can't vote to join Russia, and then complain that you can't use your US services. As common as it may be to think here, the internet and internet services are products. America doesn't ever have to let you use its products. The idea that you are now entitled to them because you've ever had them is a fallacy, and your anger is misplaced because of it.

I personally watch http://liveuamap.com/ every day. I think it's scary that a person could be trapped in their home by an invader. But it's Russia doing that, not America.

Re: Why I hate Google, or some thoughts about “open” technologies

#34

Post by Zigurd »

bumpcat wrote: post #9
krschultz wrote: post #5

Sanctions can be a bitch. But they're better than people shooting at each other. Sorry that you are on the receiving end of it. The Android documentation has always been a point of consternation for me. As far as I'm aware, it is not open source. It might be licensed as such, but I haven't been able to find a repo to clone that has all of the docs in it, or more importantly a place to submit back patches. You an open…

IMHO sanctions are never better than anything and are unfair by definition. You can compare them to antibiotic - destroying both good ones and bad ones. Majority of people do not want any sanctions, no matter what side they are on. It's the government and politicians that want it, not the people.

In the abstract, the argument that sanctions are unproductive can be persuasive. But, in the real world, sanctions are only part of a toolkit of economic tools for punishing nations that act aggressively. You may think it is unfair that the US-led West gets to decide when such tools are used. I'm sure there are travesties and injustices. But, in this particular case, sanctions against Crimea and against Russia in general are an alternative to a large war in Europe.

Re: Why I hate Google, or some thoughts about “open” technologies

#35

Post by throwaway000002 »

infinitesoup wrote: post #4

Blocking Property of Certain Persons and Prohibiting Certain Transactions With Respect to the Crimea Region of Ukraine ... Section 1. (a) The following are prohibited: ... (iii) the exportation, reexportation, sale, or supply, directly or indirectly, from the United States, or by a United States person, wherever located, of any goods, services, or technology to the Crimea region of Ukraine; See: http://www.treasury.g…

Is this action specific to Crimea, or are there separate documents that extend the sanctions to Russia? (I can't navigate the treasury website to answer this for myself.)

If it doesn't extend to Russia, then it's easy to conclude the sanctions are irrational. Crimeans are, for the most part, powerless to the actions of Moscow. At least that's what I feel. Only the submitter truly knows the support or lack thereof of the populace towards the actions to which the international community is responding.

If there is support for Moscow, then s/he should write to Putin and demand that something be done to placate Obama and reverse the situation. If there is no support, s/he should write to Obama and ask how s/he can help action against Moscow. Anything else is simply being ignorant to the fact that the situation is really war by any other means, irrespective of how life may seem to go on normally wherever s/he may be living.

Re: Why I hate Google, or some thoughts about “open” technologies

#36

Post by bumpcat »

Zigurd wrote: post #34
bumpcat wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IMHO sanctions are never better than anything and are unfair by definition. You can compare them to antibiotic - destroying both good ones and bad ones. Majority of people do not want any sanctions, no matter what side they are on. It's the government and politicians that want it, not the people.

In the abstract, the argument that sanctions are unproductive can be persuasive. But, in the real world, sanctions are only part of a toolkit of economic tools for punishing nations that act aggressively. You may think it is unfair that the US-led West gets to decide when such tools are used. I'm sure there are travesties and injustices. But, in this particular case, sanctions against Crimea and against Russia in gen…

Why not just instead forbid Russian politicians and their families to access Europe? Now that would be a real pressure, don't you think?

Instead, completely innocent people on Crimea are banned from doing any business with Europe. I don't think Russian politicians care - they live from taxes!

Re: Why I hate Google, or some thoughts about “open” technologies

#37

Post by cmurf »

angeldar wrote: post #15
sidcool wrote: post #10

Apple has done the same. It's not their call, they have to follow Government rules.

Yes, I anderstand that there is not much they can do. From my point of view - apple has always been from the proprietary technology. I do not know about the development for an iOS, and I am sure that Аpple has blocked developer accounts and the purchase of development tools - but at least I can get access to all documents, videos, and materials about Swift or Objective C and development directly from their website.

Interesting. So you can still get full iOS documentation, and yet access to Android documentation is restricted or cut off? What about Cyanogenmod? I wonder what the pattern is here. Maybe it's worth pointing this out and asking the question to eff.org? I'm a bit surprised at the difference in outcome between two U.S. companies, I'm more surprised that the restriction happens with OSS though. The fact it's OSS suggests to me there wouldn't be U.S. exclusive repositories for this documentation.

Re: Why I hate Google, or some thoughts about “open” technologies

#38

Post by atmosx »

I'm all with you, but to tell you the truth I don't know realistically at which point to draw the line between Google and the US Government. After all Google is (primarily) a US based corporation. So if their government impose them to shut down access from crimea, how much choice does google have?

I'm happy that at least Tor works for you. I might use a router to route all traffic through tor, pay for a VPN service or setup my own OpenVPN server.

From what I understand you can access websites like Digital Ocean or Linode or any other US corporation and I also assume you can purchase services online with CC from crimean/russian banks.

Re: Why I hate Google, or some thoughts about “open” technologies

#39

Post by chrismcb »

lbotos wrote: post #21

Here's an interesting question. How do sanctions apply to Multi-national companies? Is there a "home country" designation or some such thing? Google has offices in Many countries. I guess I'm asking, what makes them a "US" company vs. a US/HK/GB Company?

I would guess that the physical servers that have the documentation, are in the US.

Re: Why I hate Google, or some thoughts about “open” technologies

#40

Post by chrismcb »

bumpcat wrote: post #13

If it's true, then this is so unfair that I literally wanna scream... Android, Golang, Angular.js, Chromium, are all open-source. Why the hell they are blocking access is beyond me. Are they really forced to do this???

Because it is an American law. Now, if the source was forked and hosted in another country, people might be able to access it. Of course then the access would be up to the host country and the destination country
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