Intel and Nokia set Linux up for MeeGo fail

I have a bad feeling about this Nokia-Intel thing called Meego. My spidey sense is tingling.

Let's start with the name. OK, you're combining Nokia's Maemo with the Linux Foundation-hosted Moblin. But Meego? Who came up with this, the eTrade babies?

Second, this is aimed not just at Intel's chips, but those of ARM? When was the last time Intel gave first class support to someone else's chip, and can you riddle me this while you're at it -- why should they?

Third, let's look at the partners.

1. Intel doesn't do consumer software. Their relationships with Taiwanese OEMs remain poor.
2. Nokia dropped the ball in mobile a half-decade ago and still hasn't found it.
3. The Linux Foundation.

Linux.com is now owned by the Linux Foundation and they insist "the magic is back." They're right. Let's watch a bunch of money disappear and you get blamed for it.

This is not just me being snarky. Let's look at the home page of the new project. See the third bar down? Read it -- Learn about Meego at the Collaboration Summit. The next Collaboration Summit is in AprilNovember, at (wait for it) the Kabuki Hotel in San Francisco.

I can't make this stuff up. I'm not that good.

Let me play straight for a minute. Right now Taiwanese OEMs and their Chinese partners are finalizing designs for CompuTex in June. MeeGo does not even have a reference platform, let alone one written in clear, concise English, to show these people.

Which means you're waiting at least another product cycle before you can get into the game.

The summer selling season is going to come and go with a ton of Android kit, with Chromium delivered, with iPad fever and whatever Blackberry and Microsoft have up their sleeves, and with MeeGo where?

The New York Times has all the corporate intrigue details right. But I'm not making a corporate intrigue argument. I'm asking, when was the last time any of these players succeeded at anything like this?

Oh, and who's in charge?

My advice to Jim Zemlin is to find an entrepreneur who knows how to herd cats fast, and bring them on board. Preferably someone fluent in Mandarin, who can read Traditional Chinese characters.

Wish I had a name for you.