[jupp0r]

It seems like the author didn't read the guidelines very well. Especially this part:

"The intent of this document is to provide maximal guidance with reasonable restriction. As always, common sense and good taste should prevail."

There are good arguments for deriving from the guidelines in lots of situations, guidelines merely establish the default style, but don't prohibit code that does not follow the guidelines _if_ there is a good reason to. What the guidelines establish is a duty to justify deviations.

[coliveira]

The author is complaining about the use of these guidelines in other places outside Google, especially for people who take these guidelines more seriously than Google itself.

[jupp0r]

I don't work at google, but do use the guidelines for github.com/jupp0r/prometheus-cpp. Why? because it's reasonable subset of C++ and it establishes a consistent style that I can point people to in PRs.

[eyakubovich]

The trouble with "this is not the law" argument is that it's not clear how to make the judgement. The reviewer should be using the style guide during the review and should call out any violations. A restrictive guide then places a huge burden on the author to justify the deviations.