Google — the powerhouse synonymous with search — has just upped its Open Source support to the tune of more than a quarter of a million dollars, with a $300,000 donation to Oregon State University's Open Source Lab. The OSL — which has served as host for projects like Apache, Firefox, Drupal, and more — is well known within the Open Source community for providing an incubator for Open Source projects, sponsoring conferences, and working with projects like Google's annual Summer of Code. The donation, part of the University's Campaign for OSU, will provide opportunities for students as well as others within the Open Source community, to continue to produce projects under the Open Source banner.

The donation comes at a time when Google has been facing criticism from Open Source advocates over openness in the development of its Android mobile Linux platform as well as its response to developer concerns.