Category Archives: google

adobe, flash, google, microsoft, open source, software development, Sun, web authoring

Google, Adobe, Mozilla: Open source war of words is all about owning the platform

1 Comment

The route to dizzying riches in this industry is to own the platform. Look no further than Microsoft, which not only sells the operating system, but also dominates the applications which run on it, from Microsoft Office on the desktop, to server products like Exchange and SQL Server, and network management software like System Center. Anyone can build applications for Windows, and plenty of third-parties have done so successfully using its free SDK (Software Development Kit), but somehow it is Microsoft that profits most.

Microsoft is still doing its thing, but attention is turning to the next generation of Internet-based computing. I touched a nerve when I asked Google’s Dion Almaer about Adobe Flash: it’s not open enough for Google, he told me. I put this to Adobe’s Dave McAllister, director of standards and open source, who assured me that Flash is all-but open, excepting (ahem) the source code to the runtime. Then he surprised me (considering he is an open source guy) by accusing Mozilla of bad faith over Tamarin, the source code to its ActionScript 3 runtime and just-in-time compiler, and remarking that Sun’s efforts to open source Java had mainly helped its competitors. I wrote this up for the Reg.

The problem is that these companies want the best of both worlds: the widespread adoption and community contributions that open source can generate, but the control and profit that comes from owning the platform.

If you can’t own the platform, the next best thing is that nobody owns the platform, which is why IBM worked to hard to get Sun to open source Java, and deliberately muddied the waters by sponsoring the Eclipse tools platform and alternative Java runtimes and GUI libraries.

Why is Google wary of Flash? Simply, because it is risky to build your own application platform on a runtime that belongs to another company. It is not enough for Adobe to say it will never charge for the runtime, any more than it is enough for Microsoft to give away the Windows SDK. Google is watching Adobe, and seeing how it is building online applications like Buzzword which competes with its own Google Docs. Companies with their own platform ambitions (Apple also comes to mind) are more likely to be averse to Flash. Oh, and look who else is building its own alternative to Flash? Yes, Microsoft with Silverlight.

Like Google, Mozilla is trying to build a browser platform that has less need of proprietary plug-ins like Flash. Although I was surprised that Adobe’s McAllister said Mozilla was using its open source contributions in the wrong kind of way, seemingly missing the whole point of open source, I was not surprised to find tensions. I quizzed Mozilla’s John Resig on this exact subject one year ago, when I wrote that Adobe and Mozilla were on course for collision.

As McAllister points out, open source also has risks, particularly the danger of fragmentation and multiple incompatible versions. Maybe Flash is better as closed-source. Still, let’s not pretend it is really all-but open source. The real issue is who owns and controls the platform, and in this case it is definitely Adobe.

Advertisement Click here for special offers including free magazine subscriptions,white papers and ebooks.

Technorati tags: , , , , , , ,
google, microsoft, open source, xml

More OOXML than ODF on the Internet, according to Google

In May 2007, IBM’s Rob Weir made a point of how few of Microsoft’s Office Open XML documents were available on the Internet. Here are his figures from back then:

odt 85,200
ods 20,700
odp 43,400
Total ODF 149,300

docx 471
xlsx 63
pptx 69
Total OOXML 603

The ODF formats are those used by Open Office, Star Office, and Lotus Symphony. Now that Office 2007 has been out for a while, I thought it would be interesting to repeat his test, using the same methodology (as I understand it), a Google filetype search. I added the macro variants to the list as this seems fair, though they don’t affect the total much:

odt    82,000
ods    16,600
odp    26,100
Total ODF 124,700

docx    87,400
docm    1,440
xlsx    14,900
xlsm    738
pptx    31,400
pptm    1,300
Total OOXML 137,178

Let me say at once, I’m not sure this is significant. For one thing, I’m suspicious of Google’s arithmetic (in all search totals, not just these). For another, I reckon it is a mistake to put either format on the public Web: PDF, RTF, or even Microsoft’s thoroughly well-supported binary formats are more fit for purpose.

Even so, it is quite a turnaround. What is particularly odd is that the ODF figures appear to have declined. Again, it could just be that Google changed its way of estimating the totals.

Incidentally, I doubt that this has anything to do with ISO standardization, especially considering that the current OOXML implementation in Office 2007 does not conform. It has everything to do with the popularity of Microsoft Office and its default settings for saving documents.

google, search, vista

Google’s shoddy EULA

1 Comment

I am sensitized to design issues right now so I’m calling out this shoddy piece of work by Google on new Toshiba laptops (and most likely some other new PCs, in the UK at least).

Yesterday I set up a new laptop for a friend – a scenario which does not seem to have occurred to the legal folk. It comes with the Google Desktop and Google Toolbar pre-installed. Someone has decided that the most important thing in the world is that you should therefore agree to the Google EULA, which almost fills the screen with an ugly dialog that nevertheless displays the actual text of the agreement in a relatively small scrolling box.

There are a few notable features:

1. The agreement comes up automatically on startup, until you accept or decline.

2. The window has no close, cancel or even minimize buttons. Just accept or decline.

3. The agreement has some advice for you:

It says that before getting  “bebound” you “should print and/or save a local copy”. I would like to know how the designers of this screen intend you to do so. Your printer, if you have one, is probably not set up yet. I guess you should copy the text into another application (that’s what I did), which is fine provided you know about Ctrl-C, but made awkward because the EULA window is set to be always on top. The first image above shows what happens when you run Word after the EULA appears.

4. Still, you can drag the EULA to the right, select the text, copy and paste into Word. If you do this, as I did, you will find even stranger terms below the fold. Like this one:

2.3 In addition to the standard information that your web browser will typically send to most web pages you the Google Toolbar will send to Google a computer visit, generated unique identifier that is stored in your computer’s registry upon install.

I think I get it. Google will record every page you visit. I call this obscure language though.

5. I am not a lawyer, but some stuff confuses me. Clause 3 is headed “Additional terms” and says that use of the Toolbar is also subject to Google’s general terms of service on the web. Clause 9.1 says that “The Terms and Conditions constitute the entire agreement between you and Google”. “Terms and Conditions” is specifically defined in clause 1.2 as the current document. So did you agree to what is on the web, or not?

I realise I am possibly the only user ever to read this agreement. I still think it is disappointing: the horrible UI, the broken English, the obscure terms. I did not click Accept; my friend can do so if he wants. Ctrl-Alt-Del; Task Manager; terminate the two processes beginning EULA.

Technorati tags: , , ,
google, mobile

What I want from a mobile phone running Google’s Android

  • Reasonable price hardware without having to purchase a contract (it can’t qualify as an open platform without this).
  • Excellent web browser (should be a given, coming from Google).
  • Client for Exchange – or could just be secure IMAP, since Exchange supports this quite well.
  • Google maps – this is one thing I know is on there.
  • Ability to stream music over wifi. I have lots of music on a server at home, and would like to be able to play it easily on the mobile device.
  • A keyboard – one of the things that puts me off Apple’s iPhone. I know this is on the T-Mobile G1, which is the HTC Dream.
  • Respect for privacy. For example, the geolocation stuff is great, but the idea of broadcasting my presence to Google or others spooks me a bit too. I want full control.
  • Ability to code and install my own apps. Should also be a given, as this is meant to be an open platform.
  • Instant messaging with choice of service – not just Google Talk.
  • Voice over IP when I am on wifi. Carriers dislike this of course.
  • Up-to-date Flash runtime. Silverlight would be nice too; wonder if Microsoft/Mono is smart enough to pursue that with any vigour?
  • View common document formats – the usual scenario is when these arrive as email attachments. I guess .doc and .pdf matter most. I occasionally get sent a .docx; I have never been sent an .odt.
  • A bonus would be the ability to play divx movies.
  • Excellent battery life. This matters.

I may have missed a few things. I’ll check out the press conference later and see what the score is.

adobe, google, php, software development, web authoring

Zend PHP Framework adds support for Adobe Flex, AMF

The PHP company Zend has announced a collaboration with Adobe to integrate AMF (Action Message Format) into the Zend Framework. AMF is an efficient binary format which is more efficient for transmitting data than text-based formats like XML or JSON. Zend and Adobe are also collaborating to improve their tools for work with applications that use PHP on the server and Flex or AIR on the client.

More info here.

Technorati tags: , , , , ,
google, software development, web authoring

Google’s plans for Gears

1 Comment

I attended Aaron Boodman’s session on Google Gears, here at Developer Day in London. Boodman is an engineer on the Gears team. He gave us a quick tour of the main features, most of which was already familiar to me, but I picked up a couple of interesting things. He told us that Google hopes Gears will eventually become a standard part of HTML, implemented by every browser. Some parts of Gears just implement things that browsers should do already, such as the ability to upload multiple files in one operation. Boodman would also like to see Gears enabled by default for all sites, rather than being enabled per-site as it is at the moment.

Or is it? What I had not realised is most of the Gears API is already accessible to any site, even if it is not in your “Gears enabled” list. It is only certain features, such as the ability to create a local database, which require specific consent.

That raises the question of security. I asked about risks like sites creating malicious desktop shortcuts disguised as good ones. Boodman says that creating a shortcut always raises a dialog so the user should spot this. What about reputable sites infected with malicious code? Boodman figures that if you are browsing such a site you are in trouble anyway.

Gears is built into Chrome and part of a consistent Google theme: upgrading the browser to make it a better platform for applications.

Technorati tags: , ,
adobe, flash, google, software development, web authoring

Why Google doesn’t use Flash (much)

Here at Developer Day, I couldn’t decide between the sessions on Android and App Engine, so ended up hearing Ajaxian Dion Almaer talking on the state of Ajax. Almaer also works for Google on its developer programs.

The talk was a bit fuzzy and high-level for my taste, though I enjoyed his tour of JavaScript libraries.

Following the talk I asked him why Google makes little use of Adobe Flash (which he hardly mentioned). He said it would like to, but did not regard it as an open platform. I asked him what Adobe would need to do to change that, and he said that the key things would be to open source the Flash player, and to give the community more influence over future Flash development.

Might this happen? Almaer said that it is a subject of ongoing discussion with Adobe. The implication is that if Adobe makes these changes Google will start supporting and using it more actively.

It will be an interesting subject to take up with Adobe when I next have that opportunity.

Technorati tags: , , ,
apple, google, internet, iphone, java, mobile, software development

Actual Android device spotted at Google Developer Day London

During the keynote at Google Developer Day London, Android evangelist Mike Jennings gave us what he says is the first showing of an actual device – prototype, of course – in Europe. I took a few blurry pics.

Perhaps inevitably, it seems reminiscent of Apple’s iPhone. It even has an accelerometer so you can code it to respond to tilts and turns.

The web browser is based on WebKit, of course.

We were shown a spinning cube created in Java using an OpenGL library. The Android SDK is based on JDK 1.5.

Another thing that was mentions is Gears for Mobile. Now that Gears has a geolocation API it will be particularly useful in this context.

Technorati tags: , , , ,
google, search, software development

A smile at Google Developer Day London

I’m at Wembley Stadium for Google Developer Day. No, Google is not filling the entire stadium (yet); but it is a decent venue. On arrival we were given the usual USB stick though this one is distinctive:

Smiley Google USB guy

Made me smile after reading nothing but gloomy economic news on the journey over.

I’m not expecting news announcements today; just a bit more detail on initiatives like App Engine and Gears. The agenda was put together before the Chrome announcement; but I’m hoping Google’s new browser will make an appearance as well.

If you are here and would like to chat please come and say hello – tell me what you think of Google’s developer activities.

google, software development, web authoring

Sophos video about hacked BusinessWeek site

1 Comment

Sophos has a short video showing evidence of a hacked page on the BusinessWeek web site. I was impressed by how Google Chrome handled this:

The interesting point is that we are finding malicious JavaScript on highly reputable sites. Sophos says this one was caused by SQL injection, and I noticed that the page uses Microsoft’s old .asp technology in which it was particularly easy to code insecurely.

What’s the solution? Beats me; there are just zillions of insecure web applications out there. However, it’s disappointing that BusinessWeek still has not cleaned up the pages, which were reported last week (but perhaps that means last thing Friday).