
Nike Open Source Software - jonbaer
https://nike-inc.github.io
======
pacofvf
Looks like their iOS app already uses swift and the android one is neglected.
I hate that I feel like a 2nd class citizen when comparing Android vs iOS
running apps, the Android one is just so inferior and buggy, once I lost like
4-5 runs because it could sync with its servers.

~~~
pbrewczynski
You have to take into account that they have strong partnership with Apple.
There have been a lot of Nike products that were working only with Apple-
branded devices. This could be the reason why they treat Android like the 2'nd
class platform.

~~~
wlesieutre
Not to mention Tim Cook has been on the board of directors for the last
decade.

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cloudjacker
If you submit a pull request, don't forget to separately mail the company the
license agreement and all associated patents

[https://github.com/Nike-Inc/nike-
inc.github.io/blob/master/C...](https://github.com/Nike-Inc/nike-
inc.github.io/blob/master/CLA.md)

~~~
slimsag
Isn't it true that all open source projects need a Contributor License
Agreement like this, or else someone could contribute code that is patented by
them and later say "I contributed the code, but never said you could use my
patented technology. You owe me money." in court?

If that's the case, how do so many open source projects get away without them?
Do companies individually vet patents for projects they use? (doubtful.. but
maybe)

~~~
ak4g
The reality is that a contributor license agreement is of near-zero help to an
open-source project; it's only present here because Nike's lawyers required
it. But the surface area of 'contributions that infringe on patents held by
the contributor' is infinitesimally smaller than 'contributions that infringe
on any patent held by anyone else'.

Non-trivial, inclusion-worthy patches don't just fall from the sky; certainly,
if it ever were to happen, you can be sure that other developers will be doing
a search for patents issued to that author. If anything were found, the patch
author would be advised that the contribution could not be accepted, due to
the patent.

If and when a project's developers become aware that a technique used is
patented, or even just potentially infringing pending some legal outcome,
whatever would have to be ripped out is ripped out. But the patent, and the
potential infringement, will not be discussed publicly. Open-source projects
can't work any other way - the liability is on the users, not the developers,
and it's not in their interest to expose their uses to "willful infringement"
liability. Even public discussion of actual or potential infringement in is
toxic - you would be asked to stop (privately).

It is what it is. It's also not _too_ problematic, in my limited experience.
But that may well simply be because nobody tries to find infringement, for
obvious reasons.

~~~
slimsag
So, to summarize part (but probably not all) of your argument, "a CLA doesn't
help because _any change that could be patented_ would be caught by the
reviewer of that change"?

I wonder, in all honesty, how often do people search for patent infringement
when accepting large inclusion-worthy PRs? I doubt very often, personally..

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orsenthil
This is inline with the common theme these days, the company that wants to
survive has to has to become a software company in some part. The other day, I
saw Gap Inc, publishing a report of using "Gurobi" linear programming software
for optimizing online store prices.

Are there other consumer "goods" companies that have interesting open source
stuff published?

~~~
chrstphrhrt
Walmart Labs believe it or not: hapijs.com

~~~
shas3
Walmart Labs is basically a Bay Area software/analytics start up- Kosmix that
was acquired by Walmart. Hardly surprising they do this.

On another note: a quirky thing I encountered on Twitter was Target hiring
category theorists.
[https://twitter.com/sigfpe/status/734129734569709568](https://twitter.com/sigfpe/status/734129734569709568)

~~~
npkarnik
Very cool - I actually have a friend who works on that Target team. There are
smart, talented, "modern" people everywhere. I wonder what the dinosaurs will
look like in 10-20 years.

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__derek__
It's cool to see this trend. I wonder if they're still using Adobe Experience
Manager (formerly known as Day CQ). At a former employer, that relationship
was a big reason why management pushed to build on top of AEM. Engineers
objected because it had little in the way of online community or
documentation, meaning that most implementation questions received answers
along the lines of "Buy some time with one of these consultants."

~~~
creativityhurts
Yes they're still using AEM and struggling with the same issues it comes with.

------
ocdtrekkie
I like that companies are realizing you don't necessarily have to be a tech
company to see value in publishing open source software!

~~~
moby
Indeed - we see some really innovative uses of OSS on GitHub from companies
you wouldn't expect. Software is an enabler of their business, initially;
then, it becomes totally interwoven.

One of my favorites? John Deere.
[https://github.com/johndeere](https://github.com/johndeere)

~~~
fgandiya
John Deere are pretty cool. My college is 20 minutes away and they hire a lot
of interns throughout the year.

~~~
jabl
I recall John Deere became infamous for trying to DRM their tractors to hell,
so that only official authorized ($$$) workshops are allowed to fix anything.

Ah, yes, a bit of googling brings something up:
[https://boingboing.net/2015/05/13/john-deere-of-course-
you-o...](https://boingboing.net/2015/05/13/john-deere-of-course-you-ow.html)

I mean, if I were a farmer or had a reason to own a tractor for some other
reason, I'd avoid them. Then again, the cynic in me thinks that everybody is
doing this, JD just got caught and their ham-fisted PR response made it an
order of magnitude worse for them.

~~~
moby
It'll be interesting to see how they progress on this front in the near term.
I recall just a few years ago that Ford was extremely closed off with their
developer toolkit on their SYNC systems; slowly, as they realize that
collaborative development can take place with no impact to central functions
of the vehicle's operation, they can open up the ecosystem a little bit.

That's all an ideal state, of course; reality is wrought with questions over
who owns what, etc. but I'm optimistic.

------
joobus
Their github website is written in mithril.

~~~
teddyh
I think you mean Khuzdul, or possibly Cirth?

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roflchoppa
Dude this was supposed to happen back in 2013 with the fuel band.....

------
ZalandoTech
The Tech team at Zalando also has an open-source projects dashboard:
[https://zalando.github.io/](https://zalando.github.io/). It's searchable by
language, with some popular projects for PostgreSQL, APIs/Swagger spec, and
Python.

------
kbody
Wasn't a massive layoff in the Nike Fitness Tracker department during the
"Secret"-era? Or is this for plain mobile apps that have nothing to do with
the fitness trackers?

------
fgandiya
Interesting. I don't think of Nike as being really interested in tech, besides
Nike+

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Animats
Oh, the shoe guys. I was hoping for Nike missile guidance.

------
mariusmg
Why does a company who makes shoes writes a "JSON parsing framework" ?

~~~
davidlumley
Because they also make apps that integrate with the fitness trackers housed in
some of their shoes.

~~~
jessedhillon
I think parent probably means, why do they write their own instead of using
one of the several off-the-shelf solutions available.

~~~
ctvo
Hey look at these other companies writing their own software too. It's crazy:

A taxi company: [https://github.com/uber](https://github.com/uber) A hotel
company: [https://github.com/airbnb](https://github.com/airbnb) A clothing
company: [https://github.com/gilt](https://github.com/gilt)

~~~
choward
We're talking about JSON parsing here: a solved problem. Do those companies
write their own JSON parsers? I don't think so.

~~~
ctvo
I'm sure they had no idea it was a solved problem in Swift and are very
embarrassed...

The level of arrogance to think we know better than the developers working at
a company on what they should / shouldn't write is astounding.

Nike doesn't need to justify anything to any of us, though as someone who
writes apps using Swift, it looks distinctly different from other JSON
parsers. I'll explore using it in a future project.

Thanks for contributing to open source, Nike!

~~~
girvo
> _The level of arrogance to think we know better_

Somewhat prevalent here on HN, I've noticed. Middlebrow dismissals and
condescending comments that fail to consider context seem to be even more
regular than normal lately, though that's probably just my mind playing tricks
on me.

------
downrightmike
Yeah, but where in the code are the instructions for the slaves to make the
shoes? This is the important part.

