Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die
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HP will take WebOS open source
FORMER MAKER OF DISCOUNT TOUCHPADS HP has decided to release its WebOS mobile operating system (OS) under an open source licence.
The company said it will make the beleaguered smartphone and tablet OS available to outside software developers and hardware vendors while continuing to contribute software code to it.
In addition to transitioning WebOS to an open source licence, HP is looking to release the ENYO application framework as open source.
"WebOS is the only platform designed from the ground up to be mobile, cloud-connected and scalable," said HP president and CEO Meg Whitman.
"By contributing this innovation, HP unleashes the creativity of the open source community to advance a new generation of applications and devices."
The decision comes after months of speculation and debate on the future of WebOS. Former HP CEO Leo Apotheker put the operating system in limbo when he announced in September that HP would abandon its WebOS hardware operations and rid itself of its PC business in the Personal Systems Group.
Following Apotheker's abrupt removal from his corner office as CEO, Meg Whitman nixed the plan to drop the PC business and brought some optimism that WebOS might not have been destined for the scrap heap after all.
While the announcement opens the door for third-party hardware vendors to adopt WebOS, industry analysts do not believe WebOS is out of the woods just yet.
Gartner research VP Carolina Milanesi told our sister IT news web site V3 that vendors will need to be convinced that strong leadership and coordination will be in place to drive continued development of WebOS.
"It is nice to see that a good OS is not going to waste, but I wonder who would bite as open source does not mean that one vendor could use it to do end to end," Milanesi said.
"In theory this move could drive uptake and hence developers but it could also just be a slower death."
A lot will depend on how well HP executes the transition of WebOS to an open source project. Only time will tell, we reckon. µ
Tags: Software
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open-source means nothing if the license terms are crap. But shirley this won't be the case?
A really good move by HP.
http://bit.ly/dI3hcF
Yet another fragmented, non standard product....It's Linux all over again...
If it's now Open Source, does that mean that Apple, Microsoft, RIM, and Google, can utilize elements of WebOS without paying any license fees? There are some interesting elements in WebOS that all of these vendors could then get their hands on, without being able to sue each other or anyone else and that would be good for all of us. In this way, WebOS could pretty much "BORG" every other OS. LOL!!!! kind of ironic.
Sad to see Palm die though. They were the innovators of the mobile platform and the creators of the Smartphone, in the first place.