Linux and Open Source

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols & Paula Rooney

Open-source webOS is dead on arrival

By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols | December 12, 2011, 9:10am PST

Summary: The more I look at what HP has had to say about webOS; the more I think the project’s as dead as a doornail.

Is webOS' future in the technology grave-yard?

Is webOS' future the technology grave-yard?

When HP first announced that webOS and Enyo its application framework, would live on as an open-source project I thought it might have a chance to be successful. Now, after listening to HP’s slightly more detailed plans and due consideration, I think webOS is a dead operating system walking. Here’s why

1. Plan? What Plan?

HP hasn’t decided on a license, a governance plan, or even what they’ll do with their existing webOS staff. Does HP CEO Meg Whitman really have any kind of clue as to what the company will be doing with webOS? Simply open-sourcing a project means more than just saying that eventually you’ll dump-ah release-the code to the public. Without commitment, resources, and, oh yes, a plan, webOS will only end up in a technology grave-yard along side Maemo, BeOS, and OS/2.

2. Where’s the hardware?

To avoid an untimely end, webOS needs its own tablet hardware. Sure, hackers will run it on iPads and Android-tablets, but that’s not a viable market. So, where’s the hardware for webOS customers? Whitman has said that “HP could make WebOS-powered tablets in 2013.”

Could? Could!? In 2013!! Come on HP, get with it!

People say Microsoft waited too long for Windows 8 and its 2012 tablet plans and you want to wait another year beyond that? My colleague James Kendrick worries that HP entering the tablet market might keep HTC, Samsung or some other original equipment manufacturer (OEM) from building webOS hardware. I, on the other hand, wonder given HP’s non-support, why the other OEMs would bother with it. If HP won’t support it, why should they?

The bottom line is HP appears to be not so much contributing webOS to the open-source community as it is abandoning it to open source. Neither Google with Android nor Apple with iOS will need to worry about webOS being a competitor. Unless HP shows that they’ll be a lot more serious about supporting open-source webOS than it has to date, webOS is dead as the Indianapolis Colts’ Super Bowl hopes.

Gravestone image by rubber bullets, , CC 2.0.

HP’s WebOS plan modeled after Red Hat’s Fedora

One gotcha to open source webOS: HP

HP: WebOS, Enyo app framework goes open source

HP’s webOS is going Open Source. Now what?

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Topics

Hewlett-Packard Co., Open Source, WebOS, Mobile Operating Systems, Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, aka sjvn, has been writing about technology and the business of technology since CP/M-80 was the cutting edge, PC operating system

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RE: Open-source webOS is dead on arrival

I've had similar opinions regarding the open source future of WebOS. I think it's dead as well. If hardware manufactures don't come out with a WebOS phone or tablet within 6 to 8 months, than WebOS surely will become a historical footnote.
kenosha77a
12th Dec
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RE: Open-source webOS is dead on arrival

Well first of all, don't just think tablets as the sole platform. HP was developing WebOS to be the core for many systems like printers, medical gear, etc. Tablets were just one of many. I would also observe, that based on the turmoil that Unity has launched in the Ubuntu community, maybe a WebOS front end, if quickly assembled would be a viable replacement GUI.
maruadventurer@...
12th Dec
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Well, considering . . . . . .

Every time you praise a product it tanks, does panning mean that WEB OS actually has a chance?

Maybe -
Cynical99
12th Dec
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RE: Open-source webOS is dead on arrival

It may be dead, but I sure wish other companies in the past had released the source code like that; I've had to support far too many obsoleted systems with no available source code. At least in this case the geeks who wish to can improve their own toys.
zoroaster
12th Dec
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other companies werent so desperate to do something

@zoroaster HP drops all this cash on WebOS, drum up all this hype, and then it fails. So what do they do? Give up and make it open source in the hopes that somebody, anybody, will do something with this so we can save face.

Wow, HP's leadership is totally brilliant!
otaddy
13th Dec
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webOS isn't dead...

...it just smells funny.
AsifHussain1
12th Dec
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RE: Open-source webOS is dead on arrival

@johndow1

WebOS isn't dead, it's just pining for the fjords...
jelabarre
13th Dec
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RE: Open-source webOS is dead on arrival

@johndow1 Like almonds.
daengbo
13th Dec
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RE: Open-source webOS is dead on arrival

All this guessing and puttiing words in HP's mouth; why not be more cautionary just in case you're wrong and today's embryonic plans flesh out to be something useful/desirable after all? One man's opinion and all that ...
tom@...
13th Dec
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Wait and see

I've seen enough late projects turn out great in the long run that I'm just gonna wait and see. With the code going open, we honestly have no idea what's going to happen (aside from being put on existing hardware).
Zc456
13th Dec
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RE: Open-source webOS is dead on arrival

@Zc456 - SJVN is not rewarded for being cautious. His job is to attract us to his link bait like flies. He will not be held accountable for being wrong so the incentive is to make dramatic predictions that attract more attention.
jmalcolm137
13th Dec
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Actually, its been fun to read his columns now

@jmalcolm137 Before he was just another OpenSource cheerleader...Linux is great, M$ sucks, ignore Linux problems, exaggerate issues with Windows...blah, blah, blah,

But lately, he's been criticizing open source: Chrome OS, Firefox, Ubuntu and now WebOS

It's about time....
otaddy
13th Dec
- Flag
RE: Open-source webOS is dead on arrival

@jmalcolm137 So......If he's such a jerk, why are you reading his stuff? Good-bye...
thebaldguy
14th Dec
- Flag
Why so critical?

Hypocritical much?

We say that we want companies to be Open Source friendly and then we dump on them when they are. This is a huge gift and the community could do a lot with it regardless of what HP does.

We say we want companies to be transparent and open but then ***** when they announce their intentions before reaching 100% complete. There will be a license (the word is they are favouring APL). There will be governance too. That is when we will know WebOS has a shot or not. There may even be hardware.

Why do we freak out at Google for buying Motorola and then beat-up HP for not producing WebOS hardware? If Google can build the Android ecosystem through partners, then why can't HP do the same with WebOS? Given that Android now costs Samsung $15 per unit (in licensing fees to Microsoft), it may well be that WebOS is an attractive alternative. People seem to love the UI. Also, did you know that HP released more TouchPads into the market just yesterday? I think it is the second best selling tablet after the iPad.

But of course, the real hardware that HP cares about is printers. I am sure that is how they justify the continued investment in WebOS. WebOS is a huge opportunity for the industry and for the community. If we take good advantage of it, HP will have a nice bonus return on their investment and will perhaps get into the game directly with hardware of their own. That is clearly what they are thinking.
jmalcolm137
13th Dec
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Gosh this is good press

I really wish I payed more attention in school in order to become so insightful, so enlightening ! This was a really riveting read. I specially liked the way you carefully lined and backed up your points, and the way you seem, how should I put this, really into this. Why don't I read more serious newspapers instead of losing time on reddit, slashdot & the like ? Damn, you guys really know your way around the lab.

Philippe CM
PhilippeCM
13th Dec
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