Android and the Great Openness Debate

Google's motivations in protecting its Honeycomb source code are understandable to Slashdot blogger and consultant Gerhard Mack, who notes, "they are worried their code won't be stable on other devices. Unfortunately, they are underestimating what the community could do for them if they opened up the code. There are plenty of hobbyist programmers who absolutely love to mess with phones and would check in fixes as needed."

Fragmentation has long been a criticism of Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android mobile platform, but until recently, its reputation for openness had been relatively undisputed.

Of course, it's not hard to be seen as open when your principal competition comes from Cupertino. On the other hand, recent decisions in the Googleplex are making that distinction less and less clear.
The company's recent announcement that it would delay the distribution of its Honeycomb source code to outside programmers, most notably, has tarnished Android's "open" image in more than a few eyes.
So, too, have the "non-fragmentation clauses" Google's reportedly been adding to Android licenses, giving it the right of approval for any changes made to the Android code.
Bottom line? Enquiring minds in the Linux blogosphere are wondering whether Android is really open anymore.

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Facebook Opens Door to New Data Center, Invites the World In

Facebook wants to extend the idea of community sharing and collaboration to the hardware space, and it's starting with its own new data center, built with a slew of green tech innovations. All of the specs and designs for the center are available online at the Open Compute Project, which Facebook intends to be a hub for exchanging ideas that could trigger energy-efficiency improvements.

Facebook launched the Open Compute Project Thursday in a move that might reshape the IT hardware industry.

The project offers for public use tech specs and data about the custom-engineered technology developed for Facebook's first dedicated data center in Prineville, Ore.
That technology has increased the energy efficiency in the data center by 38 percent while slashing costs by 24 percent, Facebook claims.
The tech specs and mechanical CAD files for the data center's servers, power supplies, server racks, battery backup systems and building design are available at the Open Compute website.
"Overall, what we've done is figured out just one way to do large-scale computing affordably and efficiently, with a particular focus on developing solutions that accommodate our limited resources -- both money and people -- and our unwillingness to sacrifice computing power and efficiency," Facebook spokesperson Jonny Thaw told TechNewsWorld.

That sharing of information will be good for companies with mega-data centers such as Facebook, Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), said Jim McGregor, chief technology strategist at In-Stat.
"In a lot of cases, people with very large data centers, like Yahoo, Facebook and Google, have to get custom-built solutions that meet their needs at a reasonable price point," McGregor told TechNewsWorld.
"Facebook's move is a push to say these large data centers need stuff more suited to their requirements in a more standardized way," he added.
"Given Facebook's needs are likely similar to what most companies will want when it comes to client-focused cloud computing, the result is likely better solutions sooner," noted Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.
"Facebook becomes an excellent lab where you can go and see what is, and what is not, working today," Enderle told TechNewsWorld.

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