Larry Page and triumph of Open Source at Google

It seemed no one doubts Google as the largest open source company in the world.

Yes, indeed there is with Ubuntu Canonical him capable of making this company is famous for its desktops are nice and relatively stable.

There is also a Red Hat with Red Hat Enterprise Linux are also usually bundled with hardware capable of being a pioneer in the server.

But Google's gait in the world of open source is more than just the operating system and / or hardware. Let's analyze what the evidence underlying the Google as the largest open source company.

1. 20 million lines of code

Chris DiBona, Open Source Programs Manager for Google, said that Google has released about 20 million lines of program code in open source world.

At least, 10 million lines in Android, 2 million lines in Chrome, 300 thousand lines in the Google Web Toolkit (GWT) and the rest is output in 900 other Google products.

This is a fantastic figure.

For comparison, the number of lines of code in the Linux kernel is that the process of around 12 million divided by thousands of contributors ranging from Red Hat, IBM, Novel, Intel and others.

Competitors perilis largest number of lines of code in open source world for Google is IBM. IBM makes Eclipse with a total 11.5 million lines and added their contributions to the Linux kernel is about 6.3 percent.

2. Google Code and Google Summer of Code

Google Code is a facility hosting for open source projects. There are currently more than 250 thousand projects stored in it and is the second hosting facility after SourceForge created in Alexa ranking. In addition, Google Code is hosting an open source project with the second largest amount after the github project.

From Google Code are shown a program called the Google Summer of Code. Google Summer of Code is a program from Google to sponsor students or students of more than 100 countries around the world in the manufacture of open source projects. Annual event that began in 2005 continued to be held until now.

3. Linux Based

Everyone knows that Google's search engine runs on the Linux operating system. Since its first run, until today. And not only that, Google also uses Linux as the basis of the two products their pride, Chrome and Android OS.

4. Google is not a company (seller) software

If IBM, Red Hat, Novell and others used to sell software that they create-and take advantage, not so with Google.

Google's dedicated himself to the open source and does not aim to sell products. Google to sell service and support. That is what distinguishes Google and other companies.


Factors Larry Page

The real question is, how can such a thing? Behind Google's passionate spirit and never put out in the open source world is a guy named Larry Page, co-founder of Google.

When Andy Rubin came to the headquarters of Google in 2005 and offers the concept of open source in Android, Larry Page is the person who received the Rubin and say 'agrees'.

Page (along with Sergey Brin) is a person who vigorously-and successfully-create the Google Summer of Code program. And Page are those who enthusiastically encourage its staff to use Linux and open source programs to work on projects that they do.

April 2011, Larry Page will re-occupy the seat after the previous CEO was replaced by Eric Schmidt in 2001. No one knows what changes will happen in Google after the turn of this.

But definitely, rising Larry Page as CEO will further strengthen Google's position as the largest open source company in the world. And with full support from Google, open source will continue to grow and expand.