[jtgans]

Well, as the TL for this engineer-driven research prject, I have to say it's quite demotivating to read these sorts of comments.

As an engineer, I don't get much say in what other parts of the company do, but unfortunately, I have to bear the brunt of the blowback every time it happens, in social forums like this one, and in B2B interactions. It's quite frustrating, actually.

[atty]

I work for an automotive OEM, and when a car has a serious recall, I don’t get to say “gee it’s frustrating to see the whole of my company get smeared for one engineering mistake I wasn’t a part of.” There’s no reason for customers or the public to try and figure out exactly what part of the company failed. It’s a systemic failure of the entire company, and it reflects negatively on all of us.

Same for you. You either need to fix Google’s long term support issues from the inside, or expect more of the same.

[fn-mote]

> It’s a systemic failure of the entire company, and it reflects negatively on all of us.

> [...] You either need to fix Google’s long term support issues from the inside, or expect more of the same.

Some of us knowingly work for organizations that, in the aggregate, are crap.

We stay and do the best we can.

If somebody put that bullcrap of fixing our entire system on me, I'd laugh. Pretend you did that to me -- I would think that you have a poor understanding of the systemic issues causing the problems that bother you.

To me there isn't a clear line from "present" to "desirable future", and simplistic approaches ("antitrust disassemble google") to complex problems aren't actually going to work (all IMO).

Sometimes you do the best you can, help the people you can help, and feel sorry for the rest... but leaving isn't going to make it better, it's going to make it worse, because your work is above average.

Actually, I guess the parent knows this since the are still working in the automobile industry but for others - perhaps what's needed is just a thicker hide, and a willingness to say "yep, it's gonna get killed at some point, good thing we MADE IT OPEN SOURCE so others can carry it forward."

[carapace]

First, thank you for taking the time to engage.

Second, I feel for you. This can't be fun, and it's not your fault.

Third, although I think I'm pretty squarely in your "target audience", if you will (Rust & SEL4!? Yes please!), my first reaction was "Oh well, too bad it will be cancelled before it goes anywhere."

Google has done this to themselves. There is a massive undertow against adopting anything Google makes. (I still sting from Reader, still, years later.) Stadia? Etc. Why bother?

Which brings me to my fourth and final point: Y U Googler? What I mean is, on the one hand no one is forcing you to work at Google? On the other hand when (sorry) IF they cancel this project are you going to continue to support it yourself? What is your personal stake in this project?

I'm willing to give you jtgans a break, but not Google.

[warning26]

Well then, I hope that perhaps you and similarly-minded engineers can channel that frustration into pressuring your incompetent leadership to alter their policy of mindlessly killing products.

[thiht]

Don’t you think it’s at least equally frustrating to invest time in using and relying on a product that Google will kill whenever it feels like it?

Talk to your management about it or switch company, don’t whine about it to the users. These comments are a symptom, not the disease.

[freedomben]

I totally relate. I previously worked for Red Hat and got a lot of hate for decisions I had absolutely nothing to do with and in some cases was vehemently opposed to them (but I had no power to change it).

Overall I love the HN community and think it is the best one on the internet, but it still has a vocal shallow-minded pocket of people who:

1. Seem to forget that they're talking to a fellow human being rather than a username, and don't engage any of their manners that normally filter out unproductive rudeness

2. Feel strong emotions toward big companies and think life is just as simple as telling a single engineer to "fix the company" as though that is even remotely reasonable.

3. Don't seem to understand how big corporate systems work. Suggesting that a single engineer (even if they are a team lead) is to blame for business decisions that get made almost entirely against what the engineers want, is absurd.

Good for you for speaking up though. It won't make a difference to the people you were commenting to, but overall it provides the masses with a reminder that there's a human on the other side of this.

[endlessvoid94]

I feel ya. Have you ever seen a google project posted and NOT seen these comments?