Big Loss Department: HP Open Sources WebOS
January 2, 2012
I wonder if this is a variation of the Research in Motion technology method. Just throw in the towel.
Is this a retelling of the Santa Claus myth? InfoWorld describes “How HP and Open Source Can Save WebOS.” Familiar with WebOS? Me, neither. Apparently, it debuted in 2009 as the operating system for Palm, which HP acquired in 2010. Recently, HP was attempting to sell its Palm division, including WebOS.
Now, the company suddenly declares it intends to support the platform as an open source project. Writer Neil McAllister can be excused for doubting the company’s commitment to the endeavor. The article notes:
“It seems HP may only be truly committed to the platform if it can offload the cost of developing and maintaining it. Yet if that’s what HP hopes to achieve by opening the WebOS source, it’s bound to be disappointed. Most open source projects rely on dedicated developers to set their tone and direction, not casual contributors, and effective management of an active open source community can be difficult, time-consuming, and expensive.
Just in case HP is serious about the project, though, McAllister has some advice. For example, the company should fix the branding; the name “WebOS” is kind of silly when every OS now supports Web standards. Also, he writes, it should release plenty of code under permissive licensing, like that found under Apache or BSD.
So, is HP for real here? The cynic in me says no, but perhaps they will surprise us. Open source is a significant resource. I am not sure a community will coalesce when Android is sort of open and “good enough.”
Cynthia Murrell, Janaury 2, 2012
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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2 Responses to “Big Loss Department: HP Open Sources WebOS”
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Cynthia,
It would be helpful if you maintained the original paragraphing of quoted articles. Thus the quoted HP piece would read in part:
“Unfortunately, the answer might be “not very.” A month ago, HP wasn’t talking about open source; it was trying to sell off its whole Palm division, WebOS and all. Rumored bidders included Intel and Qualcomm. The catch: Any buyer would have had to agree to license WebOS back to HP at a deep discount. It seems HP may only be truly committed to the platform if it can offload the cost of developing and maintaining it.
Yet if that’s what HP hopes to achieve by opening the WebOS source, it’s bound to be disappointed. Most open source projects rely on dedicated developers to set their tone and direction, not casual contributors, and effective management of an active open source community can be difficult, time-consuming, and expensive.”
Which makes your point without mashing two separate paragraphs together.
BTW, the broader issue is whether open source is becoming a dumping ground for unsuccessful commercial projects: Open Source As Dumping Ground?, http://tm.durusau.net/?p=19965
[…] Murrell in Big Loss Department: HP Open Sources WebOS points to Neil McAllister’s story, How HP and Open Source Can Save WebOS which says in part: […]