Google does open source projects right. Mostly. Their new Go programming language has all the earmarks of a savvy developer initiative:
- Cool technology
- Geek rockstar spokesperson
- Sophisticated PR blitz
- Permissive BSD-style license
- Community development
- Early access with plenty for contributors to do
Lovely! Great example of creating good karma. Except for a little detail – the name. Tsk tsk – they should have googled “Go” before naming their new toy. Turns out that someone else invented a computer language and called it Go! (exclamation point is part of the name). Frank McCabe’s Go! language had its public debut in a research paper published in 2004. He wrote a book on the language, published in 2007. As for Google’s use of the same name, McCabe said:
“It takes a lot of effort to produce a reasonably well-designed language. I am concerned that the ‘big guy’ will end up steam-rollering over me. I do not have resources to invest in legal action; but do not intend to let Google keep the name without them being explicit that they are steam-rollering over us.”
825 comments and counting on Google’s issues forum mostly are in support of McCabe, call for Google to change the name, and are questioning Google’s commitment to their “Do no evil” motto.
A moment of truth for Google – what will they do? Stay tuned, because whatever their choice, the way this plays out is a case study in managing karma.