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Trump administration backs Oracle in Google fight

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Re: Trump administration backs Oracle in Google fight

#21

Post by bitL »

rvz wrote: post #7

This is the absolute reason why Dart, Flutter and Fuchsia exist. You can now imagine that if a loss from Google in this lawsuit were to happen, it would mean royalties in the billions for Oracle which Google won't pay for, or at least for a long time for Android. So an option is to migrate the Android ecosystem onto Fuchsia to rid of the Oracle royalty fees and own the ecosystem without anyone else looking to sue you…

How is Fuchsia relevant to Java API Oracle is chasing them for? Google's back up plan is Kotlin anyway; they can push new version of API that completely severs backward compatibility while providing some library for "legacy app API translation".

Re: Trump administration backs Oracle in Google fight

#22

Post by bitL »

Apocryphon wrote: post #15
rvz wrote: post #7

This is the absolute reason why Dart, Flutter and Fuchsia exist. You can now imagine that if a loss from Google in this lawsuit were to happen, it would mean royalties in the billions for Oracle which Google won't pay for, or at least for a long time for Android. So an option is to migrate the Android ecosystem onto Fuchsia to rid of the Oracle royalty fees and own the ecosystem without anyone else looking to sue you…

Ironically, Samsung invested in Tizen development for a minute so they would have their own backup in case Android was no longer viable. And it's also amusing that the Dart-skeptics now see there is at least one legal reason to justify Google's continued development of Flutter.

Tizen is a horrible mess, nobody wants to develop in that ecosystem. Samsung might dream about it being their backup, but their API is brain-damaging.

Re: Trump administration backs Oracle in Google fight

#23

Post by entee »

todd3834 wrote: post #8
vikingcaffiene wrote: post #2

IMO there's two ways to read this: either A) this is a baldly transparent attempt to "own the libs" and punish a company that the administration sees as a threat or B) they are too incompetent to understand the technical nuances of the case and are essentially morons. Maybe both? This administration can't be thrown out on their collective asses fast enough...

> At an earlier stage in litigation, the Obama administration took a similar position, urging the Supreme Court not to accept Google's appeal. Am I understanding this correctly that this has been a bipartisan position?

Ellison hosted a big fundraiser for Trump literally yesterday and Obama regularly golfed with Ellison. I’m not usually a conspiracy theorist but it’s clear the guy is connected and it stands to reason it might influence the government position.

https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/politics/2020/02/12/tru...

https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/politics/2020/02/18/bar...

Edit: some suggest Ellison doesn’t play golf, that said Obama visited his courses regularly and I’m sure there were plenty of occasions where they interacted closely before or after the round.

Re: Trump administration backs Oracle in Google fight

#25

Post by gadders »

_ea1k wrote: post #4
vikingcaffiene wrote: post #2

IMO there's two ways to read this: either A) this is a baldly transparent attempt to "own the libs" and punish a company that the administration sees as a threat or B) they are too incompetent to understand the technical nuances of the case and are essentially morons. Maybe both? This administration can't be thrown out on their collective asses fast enough...

Don't forget the fundraising efforts by Ellison for the same administration supporting them in this.

From the article:

>> At an earlier stage in litigation, the Obama administration took a similar position, urging the Supreme Court not to accept Google's appeal.

Did Ellison do a fundraiser for Obama as well?

Re: Trump administration backs Oracle in Google fight

#26

Post by ASalazarMX »

scarface74 wrote: post #13
vikingcaffiene wrote: post #2

IMO there's two ways to read this: either A) this is a baldly transparent attempt to "own the libs" and punish a company that the administration sees as a threat or B) they are too incompetent to understand the technical nuances of the case and are essentially morons. Maybe both? This administration can't be thrown out on their collective asses fast enough...

Does it matter? Every time without fail when I argue on HN that government involvement in tech is usually negative I get downvoted to oblivion. But then when the same government interferes and is on the "wrong" side of popular geek opinion there is an uproar.

they're not incompatible: All industries have to be regulated, because they are made to make money, not to regulate themselves. When the regulator is not doing their job properly, there's the uproar.

TL;DR: Government should regulate industries, but it should do it for the greater good or people will complain.

Re: Trump administration backs Oracle in Google fight

#27

Post by bitL »

cletus wrote: post #20

Of course they do. Some might point to Larry Ellison being a major supporter [1] but I think the real motivation is this plays into the narrative that Google is somehow biased against conservatives. What's interesting about this is Google made two huge mistakes here: 1. According to Google, Sun was fine with their use of Java. If so, why not just put it in writing and get a license? This might've only cost $10 millio…

Jonathan Schwartz was always complaining about Google using SUN's API; they hoped Google would write them a nice fat check and be BFFs but Google decided to be selfish and just used and replaced SUN's tech. I think combination of ex-SUN's people mood and Oracle's lawyer-heavy structure couldn't have led to a different outcome.

Re: Trump administration backs Oracle in Google fight

#28

Post by Apocryphon »

bitL wrote: post #22
Apocryphon wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ironically, Samsung invested in Tizen development for a minute so they would have their own backup in case Android was no longer viable. And it's also amusing that the Dart-skeptics now see there is at least one legal reason to justify Google's continued development of Flutter.

Tizen is a horrible mess, nobody wants to develop in that ecosystem. Samsung might dream about it being their backup, but their API is brain-damaging.

I've read multiple articles about that, yeah. Their support in their own platform was clearly half-hearted and short-lived. But my point is that that they seemed to have the same motivations for investing in Tizen as Google seemingly does in Fuchsia.
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