Google Update Goes Open Source, In a Bid for Transparency
by Sam Dean - Apr. 13, 2009Comments (1)History has shown that once commercial software companies reach a certain size, criticism of them also reaches critical mass. In Google's case, the constant thorn in its side from critics is that the company gathers so much personal information about users that it threatens nearly everyone's privacy. While I don't think the company's latest move will stop all the criticism on that front, it has decided to open source its widely distributed Google Update software. The company claims that the reason for this move is "to make the purpose of Google Update totally transparent."
Not everyone realizes that Google Update is constantly running in the background on their machines, and, as the Google Operating System blog notes, it can't be disabled unless you uninstall the applications that it serves. For many users, that would mean uninstalling Chrome and lots of other applications. However, the constant presence of the updater has led many to criticize Google for "monitoring" their private use of their computers, and Google Update even draws criticism for spreading malware.
Omaha, (the code-name for Google Update) can be tweaked by users who want to use it to customize their own update-centric applications, and it can be tweaked to update non-Google applications. Still, that's clearly not the central goal Google has in open sourcing Omaha. The central goal is stated here: "We understand that not everyone is both willing and able to read through our code, but we hope that those of you who do will confirm for the rest that Google Update's functionality serves well to keep your software up to date."
This is a smart move on Google's part--looking to the community to study code and confirm that the company is playing fair. It's an opening of only part of the kimono, though. It would be good to see Google adopt completely transparent practices across all of its applications and services, at least when it comes to how private information is gathered and used. Open sourcing key components such as Google Update is a good start.
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