Not at all. I'm using google products and I'm paying for Google products with real $$$, not fluffy feelings. I also use products of Microsoft, and I pay for products of Microsoft with real $$$, not fluffy feelings.
I am prefectly OK with Google and Microsoft's position being "Eff you, we only support our customers and those who are not our customers can become our customers so we can support them".
The general view on HN for some reason is that Google this benevolent do gooder. That's the view that needs to be dispatched. Google is a standard company. It happened to be quite big and have quite a big market. To defend its market it needs to be involved in security research. For lots of reasons, of which I would say PR is one of the most important, it also cannot afford to sit on the vulnerabilities that it discovers forever as someone else may discover them independently ( think Chinese competitors of Google ) and may use them against Google's interests in a way it cannot currently identify.
HN user base gets lots of Googler who are pretty fanatical about the company -- which I guess is understandable as without Google they may not be able to support their lifestyle.
I am prefectly OK with Google and Microsoft's position being "Eff you, we only support our customers and those who are not our customers can become our customers so we can support them".
The general view on HN for some reason is that Google this benevolent do gooder. That's the view that needs to be dispatched. Google is a standard company. It happened to be quite big and have quite a big market. To defend its market it needs to be involved in security research. For lots of reasons, of which I would say PR is one of the most important, it also cannot afford to sit on the vulnerabilities that it discovers forever as someone else may discover them independently ( think Chinese competitors of Google ) and may use them against Google's interests in a way it cannot currently identify.
HN user base gets lots of Googler who are pretty fanatical about the company -- which I guess is understandable as without Google they may not be able to support their lifestyle.