Probably the best thing that could of happened given the scenarios on the table happened to WebOS:
HP Decided to Open source the whole thing, end-to-end
HP intends to fully open source every component of webOS, right down to its Linux core. They aren’t ready to give a public timeframe for exactly when that open sourcing will happen, because there’s some work that has to be done first.
I think it’s wonderful news myself, I did not relish the thought that so many people wanted the likes of Amazon to acquire WebOS which made absolutely no sense to me.
Maintaining an operating system is a lot of work, and I can understand other mobile device makers not wanting to take on the mammoth task of doing so themselves.
Open sourcing it I believe will give it a bright future.
I really was not expecting HP to maintain such.. commitment to the platform. I’m sure if the previous CEO was still around they would not be investing to open source the software, so score a big one for Meg in my book with this decision, good job, this is a great x-mas present for WebOS users and fans alike.
It may be a year or two before another company attempts to release a WebOS product based on this code base but I’m more confident now than I was before that it’ll happen. The OS really is great, and now that it will be pretty much the most technologically advanced fully open mobile platform on the planet (more so than Android I believe) it’ll come back from the depths of the abyss it was in just a few months ago.
I always felt that the likes of the Touchpad, the Veer, and the Pre- were released before they were ready, they were rushed to market. More so on the software front than hardware for the former, more on the hardware for the latter. The Pre3 was going to be released 6 months too late to make any sort of dent in the market. I think there was too much pressure to deliver products in such a short time frame they didn’t have the time they needed to do it right. With open sourcing of the OS, things will likely move at a slower pace at least initially but the chances of getting it right I believe go way up.
wooohoo!
(I use my Pre3 and one of my two Touchpads every day)