HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source • Hacker News Board

Re: HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

#61

Post by j_col » Fri, Dec 09, 2011, 7:48 PM UTC

freehunter wrote: post #37

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…

I really hope they manage to do that, and avoid the fragmentation that Android experienced, especially with multiple app stores and no centralised over-the-air update mechanism.

Re: HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

#62

Post by mikecane » Fri, Dec 09, 2011, 7:49 PM UTC

It's probably very selfish of me, but I hope for others to also want webOS on one of Samsung's tablets and that a method will be devised to replace Android on a 7 Plus, 7.7, or 8.9 (or all three!). I really like Samsung's hardware and webOS would be killer on it.

Re: HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

#63

Post by k-mcgrady » Fri, Dec 09, 2011, 7:50 PM UTC

peterb wrote: post #53

mchanson wrote: post #7

I'm really interested to see if this means WebOS would compete with Android in a meaningful way. Google puts a lot of work into outreach/support/evangelism to handset makers and I think also carriers. Android's big because of being open, but also because of all of the efforts Google is making. HP is not really known for being reliable lately in their strategic direction... My prediction (for all that is worth) is tha…

Why wouldn't Google embrace WebOS? Their business is advertising and this will be as good a platform as any.

But they have their own platform which they exercise more control over. They would have to work with individual vendors to get full Google Apps support natively on WebOS devices. Why would they embrace that and do extra work when they can continue to push their own effort?

Re: HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

#64

Post by agentgt » Fri, Dec 09, 2011, 7:51 PM UTC

Anybody have a guide on how one might make custom phone using webos? I asked just a while ago on SO: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8450744/resources-on-how-...

(I just know my karma is going to get trashed for cross posting)

Re: HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

#65

Post by j_col » Fri, Dec 09, 2011, 7:53 PM UTC

rbanffy wrote: post #26

OK... Now, who'll make WebOS devices?

First one who does will get my money when I'm looking for an upgrade on my Pre3 and Touchpad next year, and I'm not alone ;-)

Re: HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

#66

Post by jaysonelliot » Fri, Dec 09, 2011, 7:54 PM UTC

angryasian wrote: post #55

hugoroy wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

hp is selling well because they are selling $500 hardware at $100, which a lot of people are putting android on.

It doesn't matter why they are selling well, what matters is that there are about a quarter million TouchPads in users' hands right now.

That's a healthy install base, and makes working on an open source OS for the device a worthwhile proposition.

From there, it will hopefully be a virtuous cycle, as people buy devices that can run WebOS because of a healthy developer community.

Re: HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

#67

Post by TomOfTTB » Fri, Dec 09, 2011, 7:59 PM UTC

tewolde wrote: post #39

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.

If these companies are "desperate for an alternative" why didn't they embrace webOS before? Or why aren't they pushing Windows Mobile?

Or, if they want open, why not just fork Android like Amazon and Barnes and Noble? Are you seriously suggesting Barnes and Noble has more technical resources than HTC and Samsung?

Re: HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

#68

Post by rbanffy » Fri, Dec 09, 2011, 7:59 PM UTC

mark-r wrote: post #59

rbanffy wrote: post #26

OK... Now, who'll make WebOS devices?

The devices exist already, except they're all running Android. It shouldn't take more than a few tweaks to get WebOS running instead. Any HW manufacturer could try it to test the waters, and if they're first it would be good PR.

And support two different software stacks?

I don't think many will.

Re: HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

#69

Post by masklinn » Fri, Dec 09, 2011, 7:59 PM UTC

notauser wrote: post #57

beatle wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fantastic news. WebOS > Android

If they had done this before Nokia bought in to Windows Phone 7 then we might actually have seen a great user interface on Nokia's excellent hardware. Maybe RIM could adopt it instead? They could really use a better UI, plus a platform that actually scales well to tablets. Plus they have a large enough install base that once they get rid of their disastrous programming environment developers might actually start writ…

RIM has already settled on QNX for its next-generation OS (their tablet runs on it), and I think they just don't have the software/UI chops to handle it either way.

I can see WebOS being concurrence/counterbalance to Android and W7P (mostly Android) for other phonemakers than Samsung (who already has bada)

Re: HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

#70

Post by smacktoward » Fri, Dec 09, 2011, 8:01 PM UTC

untog wrote: post #19

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…

Seconding the excitement about Enyo. This could/should be absolutely huge. Speaks to the level of disorganisation in HP that the blog they link to has no mention of the open sourcing, though. Woops.

They do mention it in their press release: "HP also will contribute ENYO, the application framework for webOS, to the community in the near future along with a plan for the remaining components of the user space."

http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/newsroom/press/2011/111209xa.html?m...