[modeless]

Sorry, but if you're comparing open source contributions, Google wins by any metric. Consider Chromium, V8, Android, WebM, GWT, Protocol buffers, the Closure Javascript library+compiler+linter, and jillions of other projects (http://code.google.com/hosting/search?q=label:google), not to mention the tremendous support they've given Mozilla over the years, their work in defining and promoting open standards like HTML5, plus indirect contributions via the Google Summer of Code program.

[kingkilr]

> indirect contributions via the Google Summer of Code program.

That's indirect?!? It's basically a strait up $5 million a year investment in open source.

[kmavm]

By "any metric"? How about, "lines of open source contributed per engineer-year"? Google is 10 times larger than Facebook, and has been around for twice as long. You would expect it to have a longer list of open source contributions no matter what.

[axod]

The original article isn't about open source. It's about data portability and openness vs walled gardens.

Producing open source stuff is cool 'n all, but it doesn't really matter as much as being open vs closed in terms of what you can do with your own data.

Personally, I don't particularly care if a company decides to be totally closed source and not participate in open source contributions, as long as they don't start putting up walled gardens and trying to lock in user data.

[moultano]

Android is the largest open source release by any company ever.

[mfukar]

There's also a huge area which everyone's discounting: research. In it, Google is a beast with some major contributions and hundreds of publications, while Facebook doesn't even exist.

[swombat]

Neither company is open to releasing stuff that is, basically, its secret sauce that it makes money from.

Google makes money from their page ranking algorithm and their ad-placing algorithms, which they use to sell your attention to advertisers. You'll never see them open those up.

Facebook makes money from your personal data and connections, which they directly sell to advertisers and other partners. You'll never see them open that up.