Yesterday, I reported that Google had bought AppJet, the makers of the web-based collaborative editor EtherPad, and was closing EtherPad down as they incorporated AppJet’s staff into the Google Wave team.
There was a great outcry over that decision, and the abruptness of the sudden cutoff, and today Google relented. In a follow-up blog post, ex-CEO Aaron Iba announced that EtherPad was back on-line for the time being, and would stay so until the AppJet team could open-source EtherPad and its underpinnings. They would also be getting all registered EtherPad users beta access to Google Wave by the end of the month.
Google has been playing the takeover game long enough, and consistently enough, that it has become practically a cliché that when Google buys your favorite company out, you might see that company’s functionality regurgitated again, eventually, with a Google brand on it.
But every so often, Google shows that they know what not being evil means after all. Not only is EtherPad back, but once the source is released the community will be able to take over and maintain it. Such a remarkably useful, simple tool should not be lost.
