Is Google Skating on Thin Ice with FOSS?
May 1, 2011
With the sudden announcement that the much anticipated Android Honeycomb 3.0 system will be delayed the FOSS (Free Open Source Software) community and other developers are all ears as they wait to hear what Google will do next. According to the Tech News World article “What Does Google Owe FOSS?” Google delayed the project due to technical glitches. The article asserted in a direct quote from a Googler:
We have more work to do before we can deliver them to other device types including phones. Until then, we’ve decided not to release Honeycomb to open source.
The FOSS community was ready to jump right into implementing the new Android 3.0 upgrade into their devices so the delay has left many in the FOSS community feeling uneasy. Some worry that “Google might recant and keep Honeycomb out of the open source inventory altogether.” With Google taking a major blow with the loss of the Texas Linux patent lawsuit, there has been even more speculation on how the Honeycomb delay and Google’s strategy from here on out will affect the FOSS community. As usual “mums the word” with Google so we will just have to watch as the story unfolds. But there is that $5 million fine and a legal precedent. Nah, ice is thick. Skater floats like a butterfly.
April Holmes, May 1, 2011
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