After downloading and opening the Google Earth .dmg package, surprise….beside the 2 apps: Google Earth itself and a webplugin, they are also offering the Chrome browser. Then I tried on a Windows OS from my Virtual machine. There I actually observed that they are asking and offering (with the checkbox enabled by default) users to install Chrome. Bellow you can see some images.

Microsoft Windows, Google Earth download page:

MacOS X:

Applications window in MacOS X:

What’s the strategy of Google on marketing their new browser? This reminds me a similar move from Apple trying to push Safari through iTunes.

This year, I have been working for 4 months with Free Software Foundation Europe in Berlin, so I shared with them part of my thoughts: we have to move the focus of this campaign from decision-makers to users, extend the vision of what really a document is and make the Open Standards definition understandable.

Below there is a condensed text of my thoughts I wrote to describe better the link of Internet with documents and why we should care about their (open) formats:

How the Internet would look like without open standards? This is the question we, everyday Net users should ask! The Internet we have today has its roots on Open Standards, which are a fruit of the Free Software movement.

The Internet finally got a meaning by itself from an original wired network. First, the development of the TCP protocol, followed by the creation of World Wide Web and then, the effort of thousands of contributors around the world in creating tools and applications for browsing the web and exchanging information and data.

Internet has become an important part of our daily lives. From a place where hackers around the world have been sharing and working to build today’s technologies to a place where new online business models are born and individuals are sharing knowledge and information, participating and learning. Internet has turned from a technological advance into a model of building societies.

Nowadays people are taking part in the creation of the Internet, everyone who generates content for the web are actively contributing to defining and building the Internet of the future.

The Internet is presently far away from being free as in freedom, despite its primal nature. People have changed it, by creating services which puts at stake people’s control of their own data. Taking back the Internet and making it free as in freedom, as it was designed from the beginning, is a work who may take a long time and efforts from hackers, lobbyists, regulators, teachers and thinkers. But there is something that day-to-day users, those without much technical knowledge, can do. Yes, you can change the future of the Internet and with that, the future of our digital and civil society.

The content and data we create and share every day in the Net is one of its most crucial parts: video and audio files, text and, in fact, our overall personal data. Internet allows us to exchange, share things and develop a relationship with
other users based on respect and trust. For that, using open standards and open formats is capital.

What could we do?

Educate people about open document formats. Tell them about their importance. This is simple, you don’t have to even enter in the deep philosophy behind. Just say to them which software they should use, which are the most known open document formats types and how they can actually create them. Come together with other people (developers, journalists, artists,
activists) and communities from your region and take action. Document Freedom Day Campaign is meant not only to spread the word about open standards and open document formats, but also, to be a global day on sharing our solidarity for the freedom of our data, our Information, our Internet. The possible activities can range from advocating for the use of Open Standards in our local public administration/schools/universities, organizing an event or giving a presentation to small actions for promoting open document formats. With all this, you can help us spread the awareness about open document formats and their importance for a healthy development of our Digital/Internet/Civic Society.
And remember, Document Freedom Day should be every day of the year .