Google Update goes open source

Stephen Withers
Tuesday, 14 April 2009 11:55

Business IT - Technology

To save other developers from having to re-invent the wheel, Google has decided to open the source code of Google Update. Well, that's what the company implies.

One of the things about Google Update for Windows is that it is a mandatory component of applications such as Chrome and Google Earth. It automatically checks for and installs updates without user intervention, and it's very difficult to disable.

Google's rationale is that security considerations make it very important that everyone is using the latest versions of the programs.

But given Google's propensity for storing information, some people have questioned exactly what data is transmitted by Google Update.

Releasing Google Update as an open-source project named Omaha may allay some of these fears.

"Some users can be surprised to find this program running, and at Google, we don't like disappointing our users," Myles Jordan of Google's software engineering team and Michael Smith of the product management team said in a blog post.

"We've been working hard to address these concerns, and releasing the source code for Omaha is our attempt to make the purpose of Google Update totally transparent."

But is Omaha really the same as Google Update? Please read on.