The Warden

Recently, I came across the interesting but slightly flawed article by Roman (rm). Basically, the article argues that Google Code should be avoided because it requires you to log into a Google account in order to work, the backend itself is non-free, the AGPL is not accepted, and there is a limit on how many projects can be created. While it does have some good arguments, I’d like to respond to a few of Roman’s points.

Note: I am not a Google employee. I have hosted several of my apps on Google Code, however.

The Log-in Requirement

The author makes the legitimate point that a Google login is required. But my response to that is simply, “who cares?”. Yes, all your search queries and so on are tied to your email address. But that’s how many projects work. Bugzilla, for example, ties everything to your email address. If, on the other hand, the complaint is that you are automatically logged into other services, what’s the big deal? If you don’t like them, you don’t have to use them. You can also use a tool like CustomizeGoogle to annonymize yourself if you’re really that worried.

The Lack of Freedom

The argument here is that Google Code is closed-source, which is bad, and automatically locks you in. Yes, Google Code is closed-source. I have news, folks. So is Sourceforge (it runs SourceForge Enterprise Edition). So (as far as I can tell) is Launchpad. And as for the lock-in, that applies to any host, open source or not, unless of course you host it yourself. And even if you host it, you might be in for a headache.

The License Favoritism

This is really where I have the least amount of objections. The AGPL isn’t allowed on Google Code, and it’s odd that Google hasn’t explained why. Still, I’ve never personally licensed anything under the AGPL (the GPL is good enough for me), so it really doesn’t affect me. As for the argument Google is just protecting itself, this makes absolutely no sense. A piece of software is more free when you can do whatever you want with it.

The Lifetime Limit

There’s a simple piece of reasoning behind this: Google can’t host every single hello world application ever created. It doesn’t have the space for it. And they are reasonable about getting more hosting.

Use Something Else

Great in theory, horrible in practice. Google Code is the cleanest and easiest to use project host I’ve ever seen. OK, maybe Launchpad is cleaner, but not by that much. Sourceforge has tons of features, but it’s ultra cluttered. Since GForge is based on Sourceforge’s old code, Roman’s suggestions of using Alioth and GForge still has the Sourceforge clutter problem. Heck, I spent ages figuring out that you needed to SFTP to your Sourceforge account in order to create a webpage. And I’m a techie guy.

Run Your Own

Great if you already have hosting. But I’m not going to pay to host an open source application when I can just use a free host. Doesn’t that kinda defeat the purpose of being “free”?

Conclusion

I do want to note, however, that this may not apply to everyone. Some may favor their freedom over everything else. Me, I’m a pragmatist, and most of the idealistic points don’t really make sense in practice, to me at least. As for me and my apps, we shall use Google Code.