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HP to make webOS Open Source

by Alistair Lowe on 12 December 2011, 09:36

Tags: Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ)

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In a bid to boost development and interest in the dying platform, HP president and CEO, Meg Whitman, announced plans to release HP's webOS operating system to the Open Source community in the near future, "webOS is the only platform designed from the ground up to be mobile, cloud-connected and scalable ... by contributing this innovation, HP unleashes the creativity of the Open Source community to advance a new generation of applications and devices."

HP webOS tablet

Certainly the OS is likely to appeal to the Open Source community, it is based upon the Linux kernel and thus would inherit the community's knowledge-base and the Kernel's hardware and application compatibility. HP does not intend to simply let the operating system lose however and plans to provide governance and developer support to the new Open Source project, in a manner not dissimilar to Google's relationship with Android. Whilst HP has confirmed support for Windows 8 in tablets moving forwards, the firm is likely to take another look and perhaps experiment with the use of webOS again in 2013, once the OS has had time to mature as an Open Source product.

HP is now accepting suggestions and feedback on its blog from developers and customers alike:

http://developer.palm.com/blog/

Perhaps what you say now could impact the future route this new Open Source development project will take. Exciting prospects lay ahead.

 

HEXUS Forums :: 4 Comments

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Posted by crossy - Mon 12 Dec 2011 10:27
HP unleashes the cretivity of the Open Source community to advance a new generation of applications and devices
Typo: should be “creativity”!

From what I've seen of webOS, it actually looks quite good - in which case this is great news. Actually there's parts of the OS that I'd argue work better than the Android-Gingerbread that I've got on my tablet.

Be interesting to see if the open source community embrace it with open arms, or regard it with suspicion and stick with Android. That I guess depends on what license get's slapped on the OS by HP, and how “hands off” they are - if it's merely “developer support” then great, if it's Oracle-style meddling then not so good.

From HP's point of view I can't see any problem in doing the Windows 8 tablet for “business” and a lower-cost webOS “consumer” one that uses the same hardware. And yes, I realise that Microsoft probably won't like that. Plus there's still the option to use it for “smart” printers.

(Disclaimer time: yes - I do work for HP. But no, I'm not in the webOS bit, and the views expressed are my own. Heck, I don't even own a TouchPad myself!)
Posted by kingpotnoodle - Mon 12 Dec 2011 10:38
"HP unleashes the cretivity of the Open Source“

Did you have the word ”cretins" on your mind as you wrote this.

Android is the only semi open source OS to really light the mobile world up, I can't see WebOS being more than another footnote, especially if everyone else now steals the good ideas it did have.
Posted by Scribe - Mon 12 Dec 2011 10:50
Hoho, bad spell check! We've become too reliant on it being infallible. Funny thing is it's not a real word but it didn't highlight all the same *sigh*.

I think the OS has real potential, it is designed well, however Android has saturated the market a little and it still needs to find some hardware to run on.
Posted by crossy - Mon 12 Dec 2011 13:31
Scribe
I think the OS has real potential, it is designed well, however Android has saturated the market a little and it still needs to find some hardware to run on.
There's been reports coming from the US press that although the Pre line is dead, the TouchPad may live on, for one example see http://www.theverge.com/2011/12/9/2624209/meg-whitman-marc-andreessen-web-os-open-source-interview.

Then again, remember that webOS - like Maemo/Meego/Tizen - has Linux at it's core, so I would assume that there will be quite a lot of hardware that it'll run on. Heck, I'd love to see a dual-OS laptop with Windows8 and fast-boot webOS.

And there's always printers too … ;)