http://google-opensource.blogspot.co...ogle-code.html

Unbelievable!

I know it isn't the first time that Google has yanked services out from
everyone's feet. I just cannot believe they would shut down something
with as many users a Google code.

I guess it goes along with the usual Google policy of "screw the user"

To github I guess, that seems to be the best option so far.

I guess so. The thing about github is that it doesn't really offer a proper download page for binaries or archives.

My thoughts on this type of thing are always "Whom are you paying for the service?" -- if you're not paying for something there's not much you can do or say about it being removed.
The same does go for Linux in general and is a reason why Red Hat are a profitable company despite Scientific Linux and CentOS.
I'm honestly not a "bread head" and I do completely think that software, as any other intellectual product, ought to be free. However, I also have a vague understanding of how much it costs to run a data centre and I know it's not nothing.

The've given you a grace period of many months, you know.

And GitHub does offer tarball downloads. That's what the "Releases" tab is.

Personally, I moved all my projects off Google Code many years ago. I don't know why people still use them.

I have heard this a million times over and the argument doesn't work. "If it's free, it doesn't matter how much they bork it or remove it"

The argument is a fallacy and a cop out. Just because it is free, doesn't mean it should go downhill.
Google code is an EXTREMELY tiny portion of Google's server power. Don't try to tell me that Google can't afford it.
They have a Net Revenue of 14 BILLION.

Sorry but being free is not an excuse for shutting down a service. MOST Google services are either ad supported or effectively free anyway.

The problem is that many abandoned but still potentially useful projects won't get migrated
because the developer has forgotten about them etc. If it could be completely archived, it would be great.

The obvious thing here is don't rely on Google for anything.

Of course the argument works. If you haven't a contract and an exchange of money for good and/or services then there is no vendor and you have no legal basis to expect anything.
I'm not, by the way, saying that I think Google are not doing something wrong here just that they have no legal, or moral for that matter, obligation to do otherwise and I hope that anybody relying upon their infrastructure who hasn't paid them for a contract is doing so for fun and not doing anything that matters.
Sorry, this is a little bit of a misdirected rant but I am absolutely sick of people relying upon free services and complaining when they are, inevitably, either withdrawn or in some way monetised. I also know that paid-for services can be, and are, stopped or changed with little notification but, in these circumstances at least, consumer law may offer some hope.

I can put it another way, if you like? The price users paid for Google Code was to be deprived of it.

Honestly, how do you think anything is paid for?

This is probably the biggest slap in the face Google has ever done to open source. Their SVN setup was very easy to use and if you used a client like kdesvn, you could set it up to where Konqueror could access the SVN like an FTP.

I have two projects hosted there, as you can see.

I tried using github but the setup is terrible by comparison. It's good, but it's not as user friendly.

This really stinks because now I'm going to have to look at another venue for my projects that hopefully is as user friendly and easy to use. I have a Github account, but I just hate transferring stuff to and from the servers. I might see about BitBucket or maybe Launchpad, but outside of this, I'm not mad at Google, well maybe a bit, but I'm more disappointed in Google.

If those projects are under open source licenses, then anyone is free to host copies of those projects somewhere else and then continue developing them.

And now that you've mentioned it, I'm now surprised no-one's talking about a "completely archive Google Code" project.

It really DOESN'T work. Society has made money the thing that drives everything. Rather than what is actually right.
Of course there needs to be something like currency to keep commerece and exchange of products and services working. But how many---most people have used it, it fails miserably for the good of the world.

I think that Google should keep at least a read only archive only for the good of others. Believe it or not,
some people and companies actually do what is right for others even if at the expense of their time or money. If you don't think so, then who is paying the people on this forums that answers others questions? And why are there so many small free open source programs available?


It is paid for how every other Google server is paid for. Advertising money.
Those powerful servers that are hosting all their other services wouldn't even notice if the Google code repository is
running or not. It is simply too small to make a dent in their bandwidth, storage capacity or processing power.

Hopefully someone takes it on. I would but I don't have the resources (internet bandwidth and disk space)

I agree. One would tend to assume that Google would be "safe haven" but clearly that is not the case.
I have downloaded many projects from Google code so I know that it is used. Quite a few Arduino projects
especially are hosted there.

SVN ? Some people still use this inefficient dinosaur ?? You know about git I hope ?

This is why I don't use gmail for archiving my messages and use the POP Client to download my mail.

Also this whole thing about 'if you're not paying for the service, then don't complain' is silly -- for several reasons: Even if I did pay google, what could I do about it, practically speaking, even if I have a legal right against them? Sue them? It would cost me more to sue them than the service itself.

So even if I pay money, I am not safe, because the legal route is time consuming and expensive.

Why then do we blame people for using free services?

And then, what about the investment of time and effort of people who've used the service, free or not? Does that not count? Time is more valuable than money. And the loss of links. And the search for a new hosting etc etc.

I know all about the legal blablabla about this issue. Google has a right to terminate their services at any time etc. etc., but in a sense, this should warn us about not trusting them too much to continue offering their free services. There will always be a cost factor, money or not.

He's using svn because he likes the GUI clients. That's a valid reason.

Still, I hope he'll join the rest of the world in switching to version control systems (possibly Mercurial, which tries to be the middle ground between svn and git and which is almost as good as git) that are superior to svn in every other way.

As I posted previously -- the price paid for Google Code was that Google Code stopped working. I'm not sure how much clearer I can make that statement?
As I also posted: Of coursea, commercial services can and do let us down but, then, there and legal recourses and, also, there's a legitimate complaint to post on such fora as this.
Google, the advertising company famous for spying on its subjects for decades, dropping a service it provided on condition that it could spy on it and stop it when Google felt like it is something only the feeble of mind find surprising or confounding.
I take it you've also given Ngobo Nwheybey from Nigeria your bank details so that you can help move his uncle's money out of the country?

There is a difference between Opensource and Free service. When a company which expects profit gives you something for free and you totally rely on that you are in deep shit. I am not at all saying that we shouldn't use that but we should always have a backup plan. Also, I am not saying that the company you pay for will not screw you, they sometime screw you pretty badly and you feel like what was the point in paying them for so long.

Below comments are generalized. They are not at all specific to google code or any of google's product

Gone were those days when people can say that this company is in the market for so long, they can't think of ditching us. In today's world you have to think 10 times before you choose your software vendor. They can come up with stupid shit anytime and sometimes you don't even have a choice other then to follow them as they say. It is pity but that is the truth.

As far as open source is concerned:

I love opensource and feel that it is the right way to do software. Here you get the people who work for it with no strings attached. They do it on their own will and enjoy what they do.

I may have gone bit off the topic but the bottom line is that you can't blame them, that is the way it is!