Django + Google = Jaiku?

Posted on October 7, 2008
Filed Under Django, Google, Python, Web Programming |

djangogooglejaiku Django + Google = Jaiku?

Or: “Google is Buying and Hiring All of the Good Python People and Stuff!”

UPDATE: Mr. Holovaty himself weighed in on the entry here - it’s based on misinformation, and he ain’t talking to Google no way, no how, not now, etc. etc. Curse you Valleywag, and your gossiping ways- that’ll be the last time I let you friend me on Facebook! LOL! Oh yes, and the Secret Service called and told me to lay the fuck off as well.  Seems like he just might be in the running for President in 2024! ;-)

First of all, let me state that I have utmost admiration and respect for Adrian Holovaty. From his part in the creation of Django, to the superb grant funded project EveryBlock, Adrian has hit Python-y web application home run goodness from the get go.

So it is with some slight alarm that I am learning that Adrian Holovaty might be working for Google soon. While there is no deal for him writ in stone at present, it would seem that if all things are in alignment, he may join Guido Van Rossum and other luminaries associated with the Python language at the Googleplex any day now.

So why am I a bit alarmed about this possible transition for Mr. Holovaty?

One word: Jaiku.

I used to love Jaiku, and could tell from things like the super Twisted network engine at its core, that Jaiku had serious chances for unseating Twitter as a better microblogging platform, for several reasons, least of which being a nicer feature set and better performance.

I used Jaiku with glee despite first avowing to stay away from microblogging, and then something seemingly tragic happened: Google bought Jaiku.

What was certainly a windfall and good times for Jaiku’s founders, Petteri Koponen and Jyri Engeström, has apparently turned into a mini nightmare for the Jaiku community of users. I wanted to believe, even though Jaiku went missing for a week, that switching Jaiku to the Google App Engine was going to be great, and would seal the deal in light of Twitter’s frequent failures.

Well, I am not alone in wondering about just what the hell has happened. Numerous people have voiced many concerns over the health and well-being of Jaiku ever since it came back online. Many Jaiku users (including myself) are looking more seriously at Twitter, and making a switch or fleeing Jaiku, based upon Google’s apparent neglect of the Jaiku project. (to their credit, the Jaiku team has responded to these concerns)

adrian-holovaty Django + Google = Jaiku?

Adrian Holovaty

So, what does this all have to do with Adrian Holovaty and Django?

On the surface, not too much. Google is not buying Django, and Adrian is merely one (albeit a significant one) of thousands in the Django community, so he should really not have enough pull to allow channeling of influence by Google into the Django project- right? right?

Of course, many nerds know that Google uses bits and bytes of Django in the App Engine already. This fact combined with Google’s knack for absorbing killer project community figureheads like Van Rossum et al., and giving them the “20% time”, could have some implications in the whole scheme of things for Django if Holovaty were hired on.

At a minimum, one cannot deny that while Google is not buying Django outright, what they are doing is possibly putting an influential Django community member on the payroll, and this does set up a situation for potential leverage.

Am I speculating that in a vein similar to the outcome of poor Jaiku, Google’s snatching up of Holovaty will be just the ticket to get things done in Django the Google way? Could Django become relegated to just some piece of a broader puzzle inside of Google’s massive (possibly stretched too thin) and growing empire? Will Django languish,  and suffer from Google’s control or influence, as has been claimed with Jaiku?

Does it even matter? Given that Python has gotten along just fine with Mr. Van Rossum on the payroll, I am not at all that worried about Holovaty jumping on board the Google express. Given that Jaiku is the most recent significant Python-y goodness to be affected by Google, and in looking at how they’re handling the Jaiku project, I am curious as to what impact this might have on Django going forward, however.

Hey who knows? Maybe it will mean fancier DjangoCons and more abundant Django schwag, which of course would be awesome for all fans of this fantastic web framework!

At any rate, and at the end of the day, I am hopeful for Adrian Holovaty’s ability to keep on rocking regardless of where he hangs his business hat!

Photo credit: JD Lasica

Comments

2 Responses to “Django + Google = Jaiku?”

  1. Adrian Holovaty on October 8th, 2008 11:42 am

    Hey there,

    As I said in a comment on that misleading Valleywag article, I’ve had no communication with Google whatsoever about an EveryBlock acquisition. Your blog entry is based on misinformation.

    Adrian

  2. brian on October 8th, 2008 12:35 pm

    Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Adrian.

    I am curious however, about why you are commenting about an Everyblock acquisition by Google since my post does not mention anything of the sort.

    While I did link to the Valleywag posting, I am merely pondering further on what I took away from that article, which was namely that *you* might be employed by Google in the near term- not that Everyblock will be acquired by Google.

    With respect to Everyblock, I think you and your team have built a neat and useful solution, and I am looking forward to the release of its code in June.

    Thanks again for your comment.

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