Musk said Twitter would open source its algorithm – then fired the people who could
- Reference: 1678440610
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2023/03/10/elon_musks_twitter_opensource_foulup/
- Source link:
Twitter algorithm to be open sourced 'next week,' says Musk [1]READ MORE
Musk has been claiming he wanted to open source Twitter's algorithm even before he took over the social network and again when he announced his intention to acquire it in April 2022. Here we are, and nothing's changed.
<Sarcasm>I am so surprised.</Sarcasm>
Well, actually, some things have changed. You see, the Twitter algorithm we're talking about is the rules that rank content on the platform. Each post has a value determined by a set of rules. If you think of it as Twitter's version of [2]Google PageRank , you won't be far wrong.
However, if you criticize Musk on Twitter, strange things happen. In my case, I've gone from average posts having hundreds to thousands of retweets to dozens. In the meantime, Musk has put a big thumb on the algorithm to [3]make sure you see his tweets . Funny that!
[4]
But those kinds of changes are easy. Open sourcing the code is hard.
[5]
[6]
Now, Musk does know a thing or two about marketing and engineering management. You don't build Tesla and SpaceX without some genius. But when it comes to software, he's proven clueless.
I mean, firing more than half your staff is not a good way to get any software successfully out the door. In the most recent example, Twitter managed to foul up its own use of its API on March 6. The result? [7]Twitter's links, images, and videos all failed for a while .
[8]
Musk [9]responded : "This platform is so brittle (sigh)." No, it isn't.
I find it nothing short of amazing that, despite firing so many people – from 7,500 to a little under 2,000 in months – Twitter continues to run as well as it does. That speaks of a platform that's remarkably stable.
But open sourcing it? That would require you to have software developers and engineers who know the code behind the algorithm and what needs to be done to open source that code. Those people are gone.
[10]
Twitter's former open source lead, Will Norris, told me:
When I joined, there were already a number of large modernization efforts underway that had big open source components. The [11]Pants build system was being replaced by [12]Bazel . Work was happening to prepare to eventually replace [13]Apache Aurora and [14]Mesos with [15]Kubernetes . And, we were already some of the largest users of [16]Apache Kafka , [17]Hadoop , and [18]Scala . We also had a custom fork of the JVM
[19]Java Virtual Machine
, which we hoped to eventually open source. There was a lot of amazing work happening, and they successfully hired really good people from those communities to work on those projects.And then 2022 happened :-\
Norris continued: "Most of the key people that were working on open source at Twitter have left. All of the engineers that I worked with on open source are gone."
In short, Musk can't open source Twitter's code because he literally doesn't have the people who know the code.
Ironically, Musk does understand open source's value. Back on June 12, 2014, Tesla announced that it [20]wouldn't initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use its technology. Musk wrote that he believes "that [21]applying the open source philosophy to our patents will strengthen rather than diminish Tesla's position."
[22]Who writes Linux and open source software?
[23]What is Google doing with its open source teams?
[24]For password protection, dump LastPass for open source Bitwarden
[25]Crypto craziness craps out – and about time too
When you look at it closely, Tesla adopted a framework something like that of the [26]Open Invention Network's patent non-aggression pact, which protects Linux's patents. Musk was right. This has helped Tesla.
In late 2022, Tesla took this idea further and [27]opened up its Tesla EV charging connector and charge port designs . Now called the North American Charging Standard (NACS), Tesla hopes – with reason – that it will become the default standard for EV charging. If successful, this will be a big win for Tesla.
Opening up Twitter wouldn't help to that degree, but it would be helpful. Conceivably an open algorithm could help Twitter retain users now heading over to open source-based social networks such as Mastodon.
Or maybe not. Still, open sourcing Twitter's nuts and bolts can only help the platform. Now, if only they hadn't fired most of their engineers, I could actually see this happening. As it is, I won't be holding my breath. ®
Get our [28]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/22/twitter_algorithm_to_be_open/
[2] https://ahrefs.com/blog/google-pagerank/
[3] https://www.platformer.news/p/yes-elon-musk-created-a-special-system
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZAsN1f0wm5S66QguS7KjdgAAAFU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZAsN1f0wm5S66QguS7KjdgAAAFU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZAsN1f0wm5S66QguS7KjdgAAAFU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/06/twitter_features_outage/
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZAsN1f0wm5S66QguS7KjdgAAAFU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1632794008060567552?s=20
[10] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZAsN1f0wm5S66QguS7KjdgAAAFU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[11] https://www.pantsbuild.org/
[12] https://bazel.build/
[13] https://aurora.apache.org/
[14] https://mesos.apache.org/
[15] https://kubernetes.io/
[16] https://kafka.apache.org/
[17] https://hadoop.apache.org/
[18] https://www.scala-lang.org/
[19] https://www.infoworld.com/article/3272244/what-is-the-jvm-introducing-the-java-virtual-machine.html
[20] https://www.tesla.com/blog/all-our-patent-are-belong-you
[21] https://www.tesla.com/about/legal%23patent-pledge
[22] https://www.theregister.com/2023/02/24/who_writes_open_source/
[23] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/27/google_open_source/
[24] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/16/dump_lastpass_bitwarden/
[25] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/23/crypto_craziness_craps_out/
[26] https://openinventionnetwork.com/
[27] https://www.tesla.com/blog/opening-north-american-charging-standard
[28] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
What if they are using someone else's code which they have a fully paid-up licence to use, but don't have the right to distribute elsewhere?
Look for example at the work involved when Sun decided to open-source Star Office.
Cue the rabid fanboys / anti-fanboys who will hijack every thread with CAPITALISED arguments over what Musk has and hasn't achieved, with or without tax payers money and may or may not have been as a result of the work of other people or non people.
Not the first time
that his promises have not meant much.
Wasn't in in 2017 that Mr Tesla announced the Model 3, Roadster and Semi. Now, some 5 years later, a few of the Semi's are out in the wild and as for the roadster (with or without rocket booster(wtf?)) deathly silence.
Then there is FSD. He promised it would be ready in 2018. Now... two massive hardware upgraded later and multiple price rises, it is still a work in progress.
IMHO, he should just let twitter be the domain of the crazies until after the 2024 election. After that, god help us all
Re: Not the first time
IMHO, he should just let twitter be the domain of the crazies until after the 2024 election. After that, god help us all
I thought that was what he was doing, wasn't it?
Well, hack me!
> Open sourcing the code is hard
Although I doubt that a lucky hacker who found a way in to Twitter's code suppository repository would have any trouble "open source-ing" it in a flash
>Open sourcing the code is hard
"This code is licensed under the LGPL"
Gee, that was difficult.
I think Musk singing a rousing round of Monty Python's "Lumberjack Song" could only improve his standing in public. :)
Snake Oil Salesman who forgot to move on...
It feels more and more like Elon is the Snake Oil Salesman whose forgotten that you need to leave town before people start cottoning on to your bullsh&t.
It started well, he got out of Paypal before he brought it down (or was kicked out depending on your point of view). He handed over SpaceX to Mrs Shotwell at the right time, he dumped Hyperloop on the world and ran away, started the Boring company and then left it alone.
But with Tesla it feels like he's out stayed his welcome, and with Twitter, wow. Here come the villages with the tar and feathers.
The problem with making bigger and bigger promises, is that eventually people are going to want to see some of them delivered. He should have ran away when he had the chance...
Monorail, monorail, monorail... (*ahem*)
T
Tesla owners see T on their car and they think it is just an initial of Tesla.
But the truth is, this is an initial of four letter word starting with T and ending with T.
Waaa...
Oh he could easily open source Twitter just by posting some developer's log-in credentials!
Just not in a controlled or sanitised manner that would avoid (even more) lawsuits or (even more) negative impact on the platform.