> I need the old Google search appliance
Or Google Code Search! Which turned out to be Russ Cox's platform for developing RE2.
Google Code Search was simply amazing. Killing Google Code Search really underlined how Google had given up on it's pro-social agenda. I mean, here was a best-in-class and as yet unmatched service, neatly tailored to both the needs of developers and to Google's expertise and operations, and they killed it. Why? Because it wasn't going to make any money? Was there ever an expectation that it would?
The death of Google Books, when they removed countless scanned items, most of which were clearly out of copyright, was also painful. But I could understand how dealing with the barrage of copyright lawsuits was simply a bridge too far for Google. But Code Search? Why, oh, why!? :(