Is adding a feature-flag really the same as pushing the feature into the browser immediately? It can easily just be part of a SWE needing the flag in place in order to continue work without impacting anything else, even if that thing never ever launches.
In general Google engineers don't tend to work on branches, especially long-running ones. Incremental small code reviews are the expectation. The general process would be to stick things securely behind flags and continue development without turning it on, even if it never ever launches.
Not saying this work should be done -- it shouldn't -- but code being pushed is not the same as "we're going to make this happen tomorrow, no matter what."
> Is adding a feature-flag really the same as pushing the feature into the browser immediately? It can easily just be part of a SWE needing the flag in place in order to continue work without impacting anything else, even if that thing never ever launches.
Yes, because that's a such anti-consumer issue. It shouldn't exist in the first place, it should never be merged to master.
There's no reason to not keep it on a separate branch if you don't intend to use it.
Yes, because a feature flag shows intent to implement it before any real discussion have taken place with privacy and non-corporate security advocates.
When was the last time you heard Google or anything Google-related backing down from getting their paws in deeper? It's no longer a fallacy when there's a sign next to the slippery slope.
In general Google engineers don't tend to work on branches, especially long-running ones. Incremental small code reviews are the expectation. The general process would be to stick things securely behind flags and continue development without turning it on, even if it never ever launches.
Not saying this work should be done -- it shouldn't -- but code being pushed is not the same as "we're going to make this happen tomorrow, no matter what."