[devx]

#1 reason why I think they should not fire Vic Gundotra: all of this is most likely not Gundotra's fault, but Larry Page's fault. Gundotra was VP of engineering before and then he was VP of...social, or whatever that department is called now. I don't think he wanted the job, but most likely given to him to clean up the Android leadership structure a bit (I think Andy Rubin was answering to him rather than directly to Larry Page back then), and to put one of their more experienced leaders in charge of this major and critical (from their perspective) project for Google. Maybe he wanted it in the same that he wanted to "prove his worth" with a new major project, but I doubt he seeked out a social project.

#2 reason why they should not fire Vic Gundotra: I really like him, ever since he gave that Google I/O keynote in 2010 [1]. I thought he gave a Steve Jobs level of keynote, and it's still the most exciting Google I/O I saw in recent years. When Eric Schmidt announced his retirement from CEO position, I was hoping Gundotra would get the job, actually.

Kill Google+ if they must, but I think firing Gundotra would be a big mistake.

[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY3U2GXhz44