Sign in

back to article Apache open sourcers welcome Google's unwanted Wave

Google's "clever" but misunderstood Wave is getting a fresh shot at life with open-sourcers at the Apache Software Foundation (ASF). The Mountain View Chocolate Factory, Novell, and a handful of others have submitted client and server code to ASF for what's now called Wave in a Box (WIAB). The code is available as an …

COMMENTS

House rules Send corrections
This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. lokanadam

    google wave = facebook messages

    I was wondering if google wave found an avatar as facebook messages, how r they different ?

    0 0
  2. Joe 19
    Unhappy

    It's a shame they killed it....

    It was a really good idea, but outside of a few niche users, no-one really saw it's potential.

    Nice to hear the Apache people are going to get it :)

    A group of us in AU/NZ were using it for managing a web site (writing up ideas for articles, Rules and Regs, etc), and we found that Google Wave was brilliant.

    Everyone could add their ideas (or smart-ass comments) in realtime, and despite inital fears that it would turn into an utter mess, it was really quite organised.

    Hope Apache does something with it soon, as we'll miss Google wave when it closes up :(

    1 0
  3. Anonymous Coward
    Joke

    "US Navy's usage of wave"

    .. and the reporter glossed over it like it was not even there.

    0 0
  4. DrXym Silver badge

    Wave could have been a huge success

    I started Wave up and couldn't for the life of me figure out what the hell I was meant to do exactly. The UI was too open with no obvious "start here". The second problem I thought was Google should have thrown free voice conference facilities into it that worked with phone and IP (Google Voice, Skype). The latter option would have incentivized people to check it out, while their absence made it a WTF venture.

    I expect that the open source Wave will probably address the former issue and someone is bound to commercialize it and produce the latter. The wonder is why Google didn't do it.

    1 0
  5. PhilipN

    Reality Check

    Echo above comments.

    There's me thinking I am a smart interested non-technical user (El Reg's only OS/2 devotee - yes I am) having played around on the net and fiddled around inside the case for years and now never reading manuals on principle and I too could not work out WTF I am supposed to do with something which sounds like a great idea. But for what exactly?

    Gives sad profile to MS policy of dumbing everything down to reach maximum usage.

    Is there an SMS acronym BTTDB or BTSO? (back to the drawing board/square one).

    Greetings to all and, in this mood, up yours

    0 0
  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Well...

    When the 'wave' of media and people asking for invites came, I asked in several forums I frequented for a one paragraph definition of what it was, and as far as I recall, no-one could tell me, even those who were using it.

    If it's not possible to gloss over the fiddly bits to provide a one paragraph definition, it's probably not that well thought out...

    0 0
  7. Mitch Kent
    Thumb Up

    Looked like it could be useful for tracking the progress of bugs and fixes

    But as its google hosted we could never test it out. Give us an open source server we can host and maybe we might be able to make some use of it...

    0 0
This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like

  • Arrogant, subtle, entitled: 'Toxic' open source GitHub discussions examined
    Developer interactions sometimes contain their own kind of poison
    Thomas Claburn in San Francisco Wed 29 Jun 2022 // 21:23 UTC

    Analysis Toxic discussions on open-source GitHub projects tend to involve entitlement, subtle insults, and arrogance, according to an academic study. That contrasts with the toxic behavior – typically bad language, hate speech, and harassment – found on other corners of the web.

    Whether that seems obvious or not, it's an interesting point to consider because, for one thing, it means technical and non-technical methods to detect and curb toxic behavior on one part of the internet may not therefore work well on GitHub, and if you're involved in communities on the code-hosting giant, you may find this research useful in combating trolls and unacceptable conduct.

    It may also mean systems intended to automatically detect and report toxicity in open-source projects, or at least ones on GitHub, may need to be developed specifically for that task due to their unique nature.

    Continue reading
  • Hangouts hangs up: Google chat app shuts this year
    How many messaging services does this web giant need? It's gotta be over 9,000
    Katyanna Quach Tue 28 Jun 2022 // 00:22 UTC

    Google is winding down its messaging app Hangouts before it officially shuts in November, the web giant announced on Monday.

    Users of the mobile app will see a pop-up asking them to move their conversations onto Google Chat, which is yet another one of its online services. It can be accessed via Gmail as well as its own standalone application. Next month, conversations in the web version of Hangouts will be ported over to Chat in Gmail. 

    Continue reading
  • It's a crime to use Google Analytics, watchdog tells Italian website
    Because data flows into the United States, not because of that user interface
    Richard Speed Fri 24 Jun 2022 // 17:15 UTC

    Updated Another kicking has been leveled at American tech giants by EU regulators as Italy's data protection authority ruled against transfers of data to the US using Google Analytics.

    The ruling by the Garante was made yesterday as regulators took a close look at a website operator who was using Google Analytics. The regulators found that the site collected all manner of information.

    So far, so normal. Google Analytics is commonly used by websites to analyze traffic. Others exist, but Google's is very much the big beast. It also performs its analysis in the USA, which is what EU regulators have taken exception to. The place is, after all, "a country without an adequate level of data protection," according to the regulator.

    Continue reading
  • UK's Post Office shells out for SAP software it thought it had
    'Significantly under-licenced' but didn't factor in Customer Success Manager when dealing with reseller
    Lindsay Clark Tue 21 Jun 2022 // 10:30 UTC

    The Post Office, a UK government-owned company, has awarded SAP a contract worth up to £2 million for software services following a misunderstanding of its SAP licences and service bundles.

    A contract award notice issued last week shows the Post Office – which issues postage stamps, manages the postal service, and runs one of Britain's largest network of retailers – handed SAP the deal for implementation, configuration, maintenance, and repair services for its SAP SuccessFactors performance management system.

    Continue reading
  • End of the road for biz living off free G Suite legacy edition
    Firms accustomed to freebies miffed that web giant's largess doesn't last
    Thomas Claburn in San Francisco Tue 21 Jun 2022 // 06:27 UTC

    After offering free G Suite apps for more than a decade, Google next week plans to discontinue its legacy service – which hasn't been offered to new customers since 2012 – and force business users to transition to a paid subscription for the service's successor, Google Workspace.

    "For businesses, the G Suite legacy free edition will no longer be available after June 27, 2022," Google explains in its support document. "Your account will be automatically transitioned to a paid Google Workspace subscription where we continue to deliver new capabilities to help businesses transform the way they work."

    Small business owners who have relied on the G Suite legacy free edition aren't thrilled that they will have to pay for Workspace or migrate to a rival like Microsoft, which happens to be actively encouraging defectors. As noted by The New York Times on Monday, the approaching deadline has elicited complaints from small firms that bet on Google's cloud productivity apps in the 2006-2012 period and have enjoyed the lack of billing since then.

    Continue reading
  • I was fired for blowing the whistle on cult's status in Google unit, says contractor
    The internet giant, a doomsday religious sect, and a lawsuit in Silicon Valley
    Brandon Vigliarolo Thu 16 Jun 2022 // 23:30 UTC

    A former Google video producer has sued the internet giant alleging he was unfairly fired for blowing the whistle on a religious sect that had all but taken over his business unit. 

    The lawsuit demands a jury trial and financial restitution for "religious discrimination, wrongful termination, retaliation and related causes of action." It alleges Peter Lubbers, director of the Google Developer Studio (GDS) film group in which 34-year-old plaintiff Kevin Lloyd worked, is not only a member of The Fellowship of Friends, the exec was influential in growing the studio into a team that, in essence, funneled money back to the fellowship.

    In his complaint [PDF], filed in a California Superior Court in Silicon Valley, Lloyd lays down a case that he was fired for expressing concerns over the fellowship's influence at Google, specifically in the GDS. When these concerns were reported to a manager, Lloyd was told to drop the issue or risk losing his job, it is claimed. 

    Continue reading
  • Google has more reasons why it doesn't like antitrust law that affects Google
    It'll ruin Gmail, claims web ads giant
    Brandon Vigliarolo Wed 8 Jun 2022 // 17:45 UTC

    Google has a fresh list of reasons why it opposes tech antitrust legislation making its way through Congress but, like others who've expressed discontent, the ad giant's complaints leave out mention of portions of the proposed law that address said gripes.

    The law bill in question is S.2992, the Senate version of the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA), which is closer than ever to getting votes in the House and Senate, which could see it advanced to President Biden's desk.

    AICOA prohibits tech companies above a certain size from favoring their own products and services over their competitors. It applies to businesses considered "critical trading partners," meaning the company controls access to a platform through which business users reach their customers. Google, Apple, Amazon, and Meta in one way or another seemingly fall under the scope of this US legislation. 

    Continue reading
  • Google recasts Anthos with hitch to AWS Outposts
    If at first you don't succeed, change names and try again
    Tobias Mann Fri 17 Jun 2022 // 12:45 UTC

    Google Cloud's Anthos on-prem platform is getting a new home under the search giant’s recently announced Google Distributed Cloud (GDC) portfolio, where it will live on as a software-based competitor to AWS Outposts and Microsoft Azure Stack.

    Introduced last fall, GDC enables customers to deploy managed servers and software in private datacenters and at communication service provider or on the edge.

    Its latest update sees Google reposition Anthos on-prem, introduced back in 2020, as the bring-your-own-server edition of GDC. Using the service, customers can extend Google Cloud-style management and services to applications running on-prem.

    Continue reading
  • FTC urged to probe Apple, Google for enabling ‘intense system of surveillance’
    Ad tracking poses a privacy and security risk in post-Roe America, lawmakers warn
    Jessica Lyons Hardcastle Mon 27 Jun 2022 // 18:44 UTC

    Democrat lawmakers want the FTC to investigate Apple and Google's online ad trackers, which they say amount to unfair and deceptive business practices and pose a privacy and security risk to people using the tech giants' mobile devices.

    US Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Cory Booker (D-NJ) and House Representative Sara Jacobs (D-CA) requested on Friday that the watchdog launch a probe into Apple and Google, hours before the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, clearing the way for individual states to ban access to abortions. 

    In the days leading up to the court's action, some of these same lawmakers had also introduced data privacy bills, including a proposal that would make it illegal for data brokers to sell sensitive location and health information of individuals' medical treatment.

    Continue reading
  • Google: How we tackled this iPhone, Android spyware
    Watching people's every move and collecting their info – not on our watch, says web ads giant
    Jessica Lyons Hardcastle Fri 24 Jun 2022 // 10:46 UTC

    Spyware developed by Italian firm RCS Labs was used to target cellphones in Italy and Kazakhstan — in some cases with an assist from the victims' cellular network providers, according to Google's Threat Analysis Group (TAG).

    RCS Labs customers include law-enforcement agencies worldwide, according to the vendor's website. It's one of more than 30 outfits Google researchers are tracking that sell exploits or surveillance capabilities to government-backed groups. And we're told this particular spyware runs on both iOS and Android phones.

    We understand this particular campaign of espionage involving RCS's spyware was documented last week by Lookout, which dubbed the toolkit "Hermit." We're told it is potentially capable of spying on the victims' chat apps, camera and microphone, contacts book and calendars, browser, and clipboard, and beam that info back to base. It's said that Italian authorities have used this tool in tackling corruption cases, and the Kazakh government has had its hands on it, too.

    Continue reading

Biting the hand that feeds IT © 1998–2022

Do not sell my personal information Cookies Privacy Ts&Cs