We shouldn't fool ourselves about Yahoo, Google
|
| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| justme Aug 04, 2006 6:26 AM EDT |
While Zawodny's specific points are all reasonable answers to "why Yahoo doesn't release all of its code," it also reveals what we all need to keep in mind -- Yahoo is providing its services with proprietary code. While the services might be free (as in television), and while Yahoo isn't preventing us from improving the code on our own computers, Yahoo is not making free software. Zawodny, perhaps inadvertently, even admits to the "secret bits" business model: "There'd be places in the code where magic voodoo functions are called but we couldn't really talk about what they do or how they might work. That's called our secret sauce or "business logic" if you prefer. A good deal of that is kept under wraps for very legitimate reasons." So, while Yahoo and Google are not our enemies per se, if we want to ever have web search and other services that are in fact free software, we're going to have to go the usual route and build it ourselves. |
| Sander_Marechal Aug 04, 2006 6:39 AM EDT |
"There'd" expands to "There would", not "There are". Google and Yahoo do not give out the source and keep the secret sauce secret. They only give away source if the can give it all away. There's some sense in that. Question rises: Does the secret sauce really need to be secret? |
| Bob_Robertson Aug 04, 2006 10:40 AM EDT |
Sander, "Does the secret sauce really need to be secret?" Indeed, that is their underlying assumption: Unless their secret bits are kept secret, someone else will use them and someone else will therefore take their business away from them. But is it the "secret" code that makes the difference? We've seen as AltaVista, once the trancendant tower of search-engine might, has fallen into obscurity. Ask Jeebs is something I remember by name, but can't remember ever using. AOL is losing ground fast, thank Cromm. What "secrets" do they take to their doom that Google might have leveraged to even greater success? Why use Google? Is it the quality of their results? Is it the ads, into which such effort and fortune is poured to make them relevant to your search terms? Is it the clean and simple interface, which AltaVista shared (in the dimness of my memory, anyway)? I often search Google and not get what I want. But that's because of the limits of language. I can't ask, "I want to download raw file of the Japanese drama Shiroikyoto", I have to figure out what words a page with those files listed would have on it. For example. So indeed, is the secret sauce worth keeping secret? Is it the reason anyone uses Google? Could be, could not be. We may never know. One thing is certain: It used to be said that the "secret sauce" was what made applications and operating systems worth while. That certainly has been disproven. |
| Libervis Aug 04, 2006 5:43 PM EDT |
Quoting:So, while Yahoo and Google are not our enemies per se, if we want to ever have web search and other services that are in fact free software, we're going to have to go the usual route and build it ourselves. Well there are some alternatives already, powered by Free nutch (although it depends on Java): http://mozdex.com/ http://objectssearch.com/ |
| devnet Aug 05, 2006 9:24 AM EDT |
I'm almost certain that if a Finnish college student can build an operating system in his spare time that is good enough to compete with Microsoft, then someone will make a search engine good enough to compete with the likes of google and yahoo...and perhaps services in the same manner. |
Posting in this forum is limited to members of the group: [ForumMods, SITEADMINS, MEMBERS.]
Becoming a member of LXer is easy and free. Join Us!