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Bidding farewell to Google Code

google-opensource.blogspot.com

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Re: Bidding farewell to Google Code

#11

Post by itsbits »

hsgeyfjw wrote: post #4
cdibona wrote: post #2

Hi everyone. I wanted to let you know (and I know this isn't a huge surprise) that we will be shutting down the Google Code project hosting system over the next year. Wired did a nice story about Github that touches on the shutdown: http://www.wired.com/2015/03/github-conquered-google-microso... I'll be hanging around answering questions, but the short form of 'why' is that it just isn't used much anymore, ourselves…

how do you (google) get away with being such asses? i know a bunch of developers will come to your defense, and say things like it is a free service, but it's not really, because for google, users are the product, and you guys have developed a rep for constantly shutting those users down. switching costs are very real, and people just don't trust you anymore. i don't care about google code in particular, but i hate g…

it was expected by many people..infact there was discussion about same happening... Why to run a project when it is not being used?..nothing bad in that...People are angry about Glass..not this..

Re: Bidding farewell to Google Code

#12

Post by apendleton »

I think this will invite comparisons to, e.g., killing off Google Reader, but they won't be deserved in my opinion. Google Reader was the leader in its niche, and when they announced the shutdown everyone had to scramble to find alternative services before all their stuff disappeared. By contrast, this is a niche where the community has clearly moved on to other things that everyone acknowledges as being better in basically every respect. There's just no need for Google to continue to provide this service.

Re: Bidding farewell to Google Code

#13

Post by kllrnohj »

baldfat wrote: post #7

So the move to GitHub by Google's open source code is the next step? I kept hearing from people "in the know" that moving to GitHub was a real possibility a long time ago.

Most of Google's open source code is already on GitHub and has been for quite a while: https://github.com/google

Re: Bidding farewell to Google Code

#14

Post by baggachipz »

hsgeyfjw wrote: post #4
cdibona wrote: post #2

Hi everyone. I wanted to let you know (and I know this isn't a huge surprise) that we will be shutting down the Google Code project hosting system over the next year. Wired did a nice story about Github that touches on the shutdown: http://www.wired.com/2015/03/github-conquered-google-microso... I'll be hanging around answering questions, but the short form of 'why' is that it just isn't used much anymore, ourselves…

how do you (google) get away with being such asses? i know a bunch of developers will come to your defense, and say things like it is a free service, but it's not really, because for google, users are the product, and you guys have developed a rep for constantly shutting those users down. switching costs are very real, and people just don't trust you anymore. i don't care about google code in particular, but i hate g…

I might be feeding here, but the lesson is that you can't count on things Google releases to be around very long. Even APIs for popular products, like Google Maps. Just don't expect anything they release to have a long shelf life. It's annoying and it sucks, and it is now laughable when they tag things with phrases like "free code hosting forever" and so on.

For them to change, they'd have to either: 1) Support everything into eternity, which given their propensity to release new things frequently would grow to be impossibly expensive, or 2) Be more disciplined in what they release, so that it can be supported in perpetuity. I don't see either happening, so we end up where we are now. They have to keep innovating or they'll stagnate and die.

Re: Bidding farewell to Google Code

#16

Post by SRabbelier »

baldfat wrote: post #7

So the move to GitHub by Google's open source code is the next step? I kept hearing from people "in the know" that moving to GitHub was a real possibility a long time ago.

Much of Google's open source code is already on GitHub (see e.g. https://github.com/Google).

Re: Bidding farewell to Google Code

#17

Post by baldfat »

kllrnohj wrote: post #13
baldfat wrote: post #7

So the move to GitHub by Google's open source code is the next step? I kept hearing from people "in the know" that moving to GitHub was a real possibility a long time ago.

Most of Google's open source code is already on GitHub and has been for quite a while: https://github.com/google

If you ever read any of my comments and down votes from Hacker News it was always this. The code on GitHub is a mirror and not an actual GIT repo that is accepting merges and being worked on.

Re: Bidding farewell to Google Code

#18

Post by lloydde »

cdibona wrote: post #2

Hi everyone. I wanted to let you know (and I know this isn't a huge surprise) that we will be shutting down the Google Code project hosting system over the next year. Wired did a nice story about Github that touches on the shutdown: http://www.wired.com/2015/03/github-conquered-google-microso... I'll be hanging around answering questions, but the short form of 'why' is that it just isn't used much anymore, ourselves…

I got a kick out of the CmdTaco cameo in the Wired article:

“GitHub is just really smooth,” says Rob “CmdrTaco” Malda, who lived through the open source revolution as the editor-in-chief of the tech site Slashdot. “It’s a sexy, modern interface.”

These are some captions in need of a meme generator.

Re: Bidding farewell to Google Code

#19

Post by f055 »

gtaylor wrote: post #9
hsgeyfjw wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how do you (google) get away with being such asses? i know a bunch of developers will come to your defense, and say things like it is a free service, but it's not really, because for google, users are the product, and you guys have developed a rep for constantly shutting those users down. switching costs are very real, and people just don't trust you anymore. i don't care about google code in particular, but i hate g…

Edit: The parent comment was flagkilled, but he was ranting about how Google should be expected to keep Google Code (and their other failed services) on life support indefinitely out of the kindness of their heart, because negative public perception. This is pretty ridiculous. It is a free service, sustained only by how long corporate wants to foot the bill. This is why it's so important to keep in mind how sustainab…

Although you are correct, it's more a matter of perception / PR image. If we are looking at Google that shuts down pretty popular projects (Reader, Code, and now G+ seems to be shifting) or pretty innovative projects (Wave, Glass) then how should we feel about becoming dependant on/involved in Google products? What if Gmail switches to paid-only model? What if the next-big-Google-thing will be closed down after a year, again? What if free Google Apps will close down, and only paid version exists? What's the point of getting involved into any free Google stuff? What's the point of using Google at all?

Re: Bidding farewell to Google Code

#20

Post by gtaylor »

baggachipz wrote: post #14
hsgeyfjw wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how do you (google) get away with being such asses? i know a bunch of developers will come to your defense, and say things like it is a free service, but it's not really, because for google, users are the product, and you guys have developed a rep for constantly shutting those users down. switching costs are very real, and people just don't trust you anymore. i don't care about google code in particular, but i hate g…

I might be feeding here, but the lesson is that you can't count on things Google releases to be around very long. Even APIs for popular products, like Google Maps. Just don't expect anything they release to have a long shelf life. It's annoying and it sucks, and it is now laughable when they tag things with phrases like "free code hosting forever" and so on. For them to change, they'd have to either: 1) Support every…

They kind of get a bad rap for this because of how large and visible they are. The funny thing is that many of the people here on HN have worked on projects that had very finite lifetimes as well, often closing them down for some of the same reasons.

Someone has to invest the time and money to keep services running, even if only limping along. Google likes to experiment and test the waters. It's part of why they've been so successful. I hope they keep killing off their underperforming/underused services so they can keep on pushing other things forward.

However, closing down stagnant projects is very different from locking down access to previously open APIs (Google Maps). Since we're discussing the closure of Google Code, I won't get distracted with that controversial topic.

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