OMG Chrome Uses Black Magic Code from “Voldermort”…err Microsoft!

Another shocker for the world of purists…Google’s Chrome browser uses a bit of open source code from Microsoft.

(btw – the reference to Microsoft as “Voldemort” is a lighthearted nod to the reporter from the Chrome announcement press conference who made the same reference).

Rather than the shock and sadness others may feel about Google using the tools of “You-Know-Who”, I see it as another sign of the right technical decision made by Google while developing software they give away free to the rest of us.

It’s a smart move by Google to use an open source library native from the OS provider to make their code run the best on that operating system. I expect Google to make use of Mac libraries when it finishes its port to OS X and Linux libraries for its port to that platform.  Why would they do anything else?

Technical choices aside, there is a lingering touch of oddness about this in that like the Chrome announcement press conference, Google doesn’t like mentioning “He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named”…clearly something is behind that.

Then again, maybe they are just being polite and following their mother’s rule of “If you can’t say something nice…don’t say anything at all”.

Whatever the case may be, Chrome users everywhere should say “Thank you Microsoft for releasing the your ‘Windows Template Library’ as open source. Even if Google had to be nudged to give you you credit, we’re still grateful. And more more thing…we like this open source thing, please do more.”

(PS – if anyone knows the name of the reporter who called Microsoft “Voldemort” during the Q&A section of the Google Chrome press conference, please post it as a comment so I can include it here. TY).