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ploum

Why there’s no European Google?
And why it is a good thing!

My answer to the European Commission "call for evidence on Open Source."

https://ploum.net/2026-01-22-why-no-european-google.html

#geminiprotocol link: gemini://ploum.net/2026-01-22-why-no-european-google.gmi

Why there’s no European Google?

Why there’s no European Google? par Ploum - Lionel Dricot.

Jan 22 at 12:40pmWeb
Show threadMichel PatriceJan 22

@ploum

Très très bon texte qui rappelle plusieurs choses oublieés. Oui, l'Europe a de quoi être fière.

Show threadProf LutzJan 22
@MichelPatrice Il n'y a pas de Google Européen parce que sa fondation a été possible grâce à la CIA et la NSA 😏 https://qz.com/1145669/googles-true-origin-partly-lies-in-cia-and-nsa-research-grants-for-mass-surveillance
Google’s true origin partly lies in CIA and NSA research grants for mass surveillance

The intelligence community and Silicon Valley have a long history

Quartz
Show threadMichel PatriceJan 22

@pr_ret_lutz

"La liste de tout ce qui m'écoeure est trop longue." (Renaud)

Show threadJez 🍞🌹Jan 22

@ploum well said

> "Nearly nothing, to the great sadness of politicians who believe that the success of a society is measured by the number of billionaires it creates"

I would agree with them that you can measure the success of a society by the number of billionaires it creates. I just think the most successful value for that number is 0...

Show threadMike Taylor 🦕Jan 22
@ploum It's a digression, but: "(And, yes, I consider Brits Europeans. They will join us back, we miss them, I promise.)" As a Brit, I really appreciate this gracious stance, and I hope with all my heart that you are right.
Show threadErotic Mythology ✊Jan 22
@mike @ploum I think most of continental Europe consider Brits Europeans 💕
Britain usually excludes itself, not the other way round (most devastatingly with Brexit, of course).
Show threadMike Taylor 🦕Jan 22
@AimeeMaroux @ploum That is comforting to know.
Show threadJean-David BarJan 22
@ploum Proton (now both in Switzerland and Germany) is also a good example of researchers (CERN again) on privacy creating a company turned into a nonprofit.
Show threadMike Taylor 🦕Jan 22
@ploum This is a great article. The only thing I think you could improve is the title. I first interpreted it as meaning there is no good European web-search engine, which of course I now realise is not the point you were making. Maybe "Why there are no European tech billionaires"?
Show threadMatthias KampmannJan 22
@mike @ploum I fully agree your point of view, and I also stumbled upon this meaning. Btw. I would love to have Great Britain back in the EU. All of my friends from London and Wales share that opinion.
Show threadMike Taylor 🦕Jan 22
@matthias @ploum You can add me to their number! But my sense that the EU is undertandably cautious about readmitted as country that's always one bad general election away from re-Brexiting.
Show threadMatthias KampmannJan 22
@mike @ploum Well, it’s probably up to us to convince the sceptics. :) But maybe first we have to get rid of Nigel and Alice and Björn and all the other authoritarian „fellows“…
Show threadB OJan 22
@ploum @dimillian I hope this at least make you think
Show threadvikinghoarderJan 22
@ploum Great read.
Thank you for reminding me why I care about open source.
Show threadLouisJan 22
@ploum je crois qu’une meilleure tradutction de « votre serviteur » serait « yours truly »
Show threadploumJan 22
Thanks, je corrige. C’était dans mon brouillon initial mais j’ai été pris d’un doute et étant déconnecté, je n’ai pas vérifié.
Show threadSheogorathJan 22
@ploum This is an amazingly well written article! Love it!
Show threadf1r3Jan 22
@ploum they called it astalavista.box.sk but the service was suspended
Show threadThuJan 22
@ploum J'ai regardé Hackers récemment. L'occasion de me rappeler qu'à une époque, même les férus d'informatique aux US ne voyaient pas les grosses sociétés toutes puissantes comme une bonne chose.
Show threadInvictvsJan 22
@ploum Very good! Thank you
Show threadJoel TakvorianJan 22
@ploum merci pour ce texte nécessaire. Ça ne répond pas entièrement au "call for evidence" je crois (la dépendance de notre économie aux techs US reste un sujet à traiter), mais ça recadre bien certaines choses
Show threadPedramJan 22
@ploum Great, thought-proviking, heart-warming, informative read!
Show threadAngela ScholderJan 22
@ploum Nice writing!
Show threadAnders Cornelius MadsenJan 22

@ploum
What an absolutely fantastic article, and I think you are spot on - the definition of success is very much a matter of perspective.

Thanks a lot for spending your time on translating your article and making it available to those of us who do not master the French language beyond "merci"!

Show threadd@nny disc@ mc²Jan 23
@ploum louis pouzin's CYLADES network sounds like it was superior to ARPANET in several ways and i believe even the great credit stealer vint cerf acknowledges that the term "datagram" was pouzin's invention. fixed-size packets seem better in a lot of ways
Show threadLokjo - a European online mapJan 23

@ploum

Very nice article!

And I feel a bit noted since Lokjo is ment as a european google substitute, based on OSM. :)

"We don’t want a European Google Maps! We want our institutions at all levels to contribute to OpenStreetMap"

P.s. didn't knew about the 'european joke', it's pretty acurate!

Show threadRubén RubioJan 23
@ploum Great article! Thank you for writing it!