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HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

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Re: HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

#31

Post by hugoroy »

yalogin wrote: post #23

Isn't it a little too late now? WebOS is way behind in terms of functionality compared to Android and so even someone picks it up they need to spend considerable time and resources to bring it up to par to compete with it. It has to be some company that does not mind waiting and spending the resources. I don't see any one in that position right now. Unless this is purely a move to generate excitement in the developer…

too late? Why? The iPad is only at version 2, and Android tablets are having a hard time to take off (while the HP TouchPad has been selling very well apparently). Honestly, I am using one, and I have an Android phone (Nexus S) I don't think it's that far behind (and there are other good features I don't have on Android).

Disclaimer: I'm right now an intern at HP, but I'm first a Free Software hacktivist and user.

Re: HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

#32

Post by jdthomas »

jpxxx wrote: post #16

Honest question: to what end is this happening? They receive no money from a sale of the project, they still have to commit engineering resources, they lose some level of control over its development and its future,and how is it going to be placed into someone else's aboveboard commercial mobile product if there aren't any guarantees against patent attacks? What is the upside?

Upside: They look slightly less foolish?

Re: HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

#33

Post by joelhaasnoot »

yalogin wrote: post #23

Isn't it a little too late now? WebOS is way behind in terms of functionality compared to Android and so even someone picks it up they need to spend considerable time and resources to bring it up to par to compete with it. It has to be some company that does not mind waiting and spending the resources. I don't see any one in that position right now. Unless this is purely a move to generate excitement in the developer…

Some of the contact stuff they did in WebOS with Synergy is actually very much ahead of it's time. Android had now caught up to it a bit with ICS and their "People" card. There's also a fairly large "homebrew" community for WebOS with lots of hacks, etc.

Re: HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

#34

Post by beatle »

megaduck wrote: post #12

This is fantastic news. WebOS has always been full of great ideas, but held back by shaky underpinnings. It's like the inverse of most open-source projects. Great UI, not-so-hot implementation. There's a lot of folks (myself included) that would have been happy to jump in and assist, but couldn't due to the closed-source nature of the platform. The real prize, however, is Enyo. It's a great Javascript framework, and…

Fantastic news.

WebOS > Android

Re: HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

#35

Post by jdthomas »

rbanffy wrote: post #25
MatthewPhillips wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1 huge reason: proprietary drivers.

If the driver links to the Linux kernel underneath, porting shouldn't pose a big problem. Oh... Isn't distributing proprietary drivers linked to the Linux kernel a violation of the GPL?

Problem isn't so much kernel level drivers, but user space. Or undocumented proprietary APIs to firmware. I suspect it is not a problem for most components. Most phones are just recombinations of the same components. The problem areas would be the radios and possibly the graphics.

Check the tear downs of the HTC Sensation and the HP TouchPad .. virtually the same device inside. ;)

Re: HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

#37

Post by freehunter »

sjs wrote: post #5

"under an open source license" is vague. I hope more details emerge soon. If it's a liberal license this could be very interesting. Without a group leading development the project may languish so ideally a competent group, with a vision, decides to run with webOS.

They did mention they wanted to control the development of the system to avoid fragmentation, so the license may be more restrictive than Android. Full open-source but cannot sell devices with wildly custom builds without HP's approval seems to be okay with me. As long as they leave a clause for being able to legally share your custom homebrew ROMs, they can put as many restrictions on hardware manufacturers as they like.

Re: HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

#39

Post by tewolde »

jpxxx wrote: post #16

Honest question: to what end is this happening? They receive no money from a sale of the project, they still have to commit engineering resources, they lose some level of control over its development and its future,and how is it going to be placed into someone else's aboveboard commercial mobile product if there aren't any guarantees against patent attacks? What is the upside?

This is a platform play. Think of it like a casino, HP is the house. It sits in the middle, makes the rules and pockets the mindshare, influence...and maybe some money.

Samsung, HTC have been desperate for an alternative to android since the Motorola purchase by Google. If HP does this right, I have little doubt we will see future webOS devices.

Re: HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

#40

Post by robbrown451 »

jpxxx wrote: post #16

Honest question: to what end is this happening? They receive no money from a sale of the project, they still have to commit engineering resources, they lose some level of control over its development and its future,and how is it going to be placed into someone else's aboveboard commercial mobile product if there aren't any guarantees against patent attacks? What is the upside?

I think HP would benefit if the mobile/tablet landscape was not so dominated and controlled by two of their competitors
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