[cbsmith]

> I mean Google started as a non-profit and basically defined the search engine and it's tools. Then it went private, continued briefly, and has slid more and more into yet another corporate rent-seeker ever since.

Wait, when was Google a non-profit?

[ToucanLoucan]

Started as a research grant-based program at Stanford in 1995. Three years later it became a company after building the basic product to a launch-ready state.

[cbsmith]

Ah, you mean before it was called Google.

Honestly, the non-profit engine was not nearly as good as the one the subsequent for profit business created.