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Maemo is already dead, kinda.

It don't sounds like the N900 will get anything from Moblin and I guess future phones won't get Maemo so ..

http://moblin.org/

The biggest problem isn't support for <video>, but common support for major video formats. Seems there's no codec supported by all browsers anytime soon.

That's not a huge problem -- the video element supports having multiple source elements, each can use different codecs.

For instance, I found this video earlier. It's available as OGG or MP4, and the browser will choose automatically.

From Moblin's site:

Moblin uses Clutter to create exciting, efficient, and intuitive user interfaces.

Worthy competitor to Android, let alone Apple? Not a chance, and you can tell just by looking at the name that was chosen for the UI. But they'd probably have a good shot at Failblog.

Moblin comes with Flash and other multimedia apps.

Moblin v2 UX beta is available as a livecd/liveusb right now. Check it out for yourself.

Microsoft and Apple have versions of their OS that you should never install on a laptop. Linux has distros you should not install on a laptop, as well as some you should.

btw, I should have linked the Moblin pages...there is a LOT of activity on their email feed for independent developers. http://moblin.org/

I haven't tested it, but moblin seems to be close to what you want already, you just need a netbook...

http://moblin.org/

The link in the summary links to a digg article that links to the actual content at moblin.org.
That should be fixed.

You linked to Digg instead of the actual announcement. WhyTF did you do that?!

Here is the announcement

Why link to digg? Why not the actual site?

So kdawson's attempting to Slashdot Digg huh? What's wrong with the actual link?

"He acknowledged two concerns for smartbooks are the lack of native support for Adobe Flash on ARM and the fragmentation of Linux application environments. However, he said solutions to both issues are in the works." Emphasis in bold mine.

The notion of "fragmentation" being a negative attribute of open source software is idiotic. What you call fragmentation, I call freedom. If somebody doesn't like the window manager on their computer, they can change it to one they do like. Or, in the worst case, they can make their own. You simply can't do that (and many other things) effectively or efficiently on a proprietary system with One Blessed User Interface.

You can't have an open source ecosystem that isn't "fragmented" in the first place, so fighting it is pointless. Every person is going to have a different idea of how a particular line of code should be written, let alone how an entire project should be structured. They are going to arrive at different solutions and are going to prefer their own solutions to others'. It's competition and, in a way, rather like natural selection. The software that solves the problem the best, wins. If there is no clear winner, then at least there are multiple alternatives for users and developers to choose from. I will keep preaching this on Slashdot and everywhere else until it finally sinks in: If you don't want the freedom that open source offers, then don't use it. Really, you won't be hurting anyone's feelings by not jumping on the Linux buzzwagon.

Now, these are folks doing very serious work with Linux. Many Slashdoters have said the same things only to be branded as trolls. I can see a future for Android if Google continues to do a good job.

The difference between the trolls and Google is that Google is doing something about their complaints. Rather than bitching and doing, the trolls were just bitching, which is a very trollish thing to do hence they were correctly modded as such.

Also, doesn't it strike you as rather hypocritical that Google would bemoan the fragmentation of the "Linux application environments" and then sets out to create their own? I mean, if fragmentation were really that big an issue for them, then they should have taken an existing solution like Hildon, Moblin, or Maemo and improved or extended it to get the features they wanted. Creating Android only increased the fragmentation of the Linux's mobile interface offerings.

Moblin can supposedly be made to boot very quickly.

moblin is badly named. its not for phones, but for this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Internet_Device

Hmmm 'Mob(ile) Lin(ux)' - for mobile internet devices running Linux.. seems well named. The only flaw seems to be you assuming that it's named after mobile phones. From the website http://moblin.org/,

Moblin is an open source project focused on building a Linux-based platform optimized for the next generation of mobile devices including Netbooks, Mobile Internet Devices, and In-vehicle infotainment systems.

Agreed that MobPhLin would be a bad name for it however.

Use Moblin, it boots in seconds!

It's really amazing...

images of the latest release are here:

http://moblin.org/documentation/getting-started-guides/test-drive-moblin

I'd be even happier if I could download a bootable, installable copy of this 5 second boot time Moblin wonderfulness. Alas, there doesn't seem to be one here or anywhere, just vague instructions and hints about compiling a custom kernel that doesn't use modules, using a read ahead, fiddling with init, etc. So if I want it, sounds like I have to start hacking. I wish I had the time.

I tried the Moblin live image from the Fast Boot project on my EEE 901. I wanted to see it boot in 5 seconds, like they claim. Instead, it took 37 seconds to boot from a USB stick. The links take you to a generic image, not one that's been tuned for this fast booting. When I saw it bring up Bluetooth and AHAVI, I knew that couldn't be it. Wonder what you have to do to get that speedy boot.

I tried to get Moblin working on my MID.

I couldn't even get the installer to boot (kernel panic).

I filed a bug ( http://bugzilla.moblin.org/show_bug.cgi?id=197 ) which, despite being a critical issue, hasn't had so much as a peep out of a developer yet (after several months).

And just three articles back ( http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/31/1859200 ) Slashdot is discussing the "Bloody Mess" that is the Intel Poulsbo driver, which it's worth noting, is provided as part of the Moblin project.

I'm thinking Moblin may need quite some more polish, and that perhaps they may be a little under-staffed?

Not quite sure what happened in my previous post but here's the link to the Interesting but how useful, really? thread (Yes! No! I have a Mac! etc) from the Mandriva story.

Um now letsee er how to make up for the snafu... Here's a link to Moblin project download page that is going to integrate some of this work that the Intel engineers like the now legendary Auke Kok have been working on.

Here's a poweropint presentation about this work. If you're an LWN subscriber you can you read an article and comments about the 5 second boot presentation at the Linux Plumbers Conference (it will become viewable by all on from the 2nd October 2008). Finally you might be able to test drive some of this work if you are willing to sacrifice a USB key and destroy your existing EeePC install by because Moblin may include this work.

Moblin claims a boot time of 5 seconds - in that time a fully usable UI environment is loaded. http://moblin.org/netbooks-and-nettops I have recently seen a movie as a 'proof' on a conference but I cannot find it on youtube or similar.

Woah. That craps all over the iPhone from a substantial height and makes aero look pretty silly too. Is it actually practical? Who cares!

I think the software so far is pretty basic on the OpenMoko but the main stuff is there. Comparing it to Android for example, I think Android has more software right now due to the emulator and SDK Google pushed out. Android has a much bigger base of course, but then again, OpenMoko will have more apps too once Android phones finally come out. I'd like to know in what ways if any Android is more locked down than the OpenMoko software, and you also have to keep in mind that the Neo Freerunner itself is built as an open hardware device, while the phones that Android will come on will be less geared towards openness I'd assume, but since times are changing, who knows for sure.

With so many open mobile groups gearing up for action aside from Android and OpenMoko, like LiMo and Moblin and others, the future will be an interesting and good one.

using the Moblin stack that will ultimately surpass the XO no matter what's running on it.

Interesting as well that the testers didn't seem to grasp the differences in the way Vista manages applications and resources. Programs running under Vista should become more responsive the more you use them.

Not on the eee they don't. Nor under any of the 50 low cost MIDs and mini notebook pc's coming out in the next few months. For the two pound laptop with six hours of battery life Vista is dead on arrival.

Vista 14% Up From 4%

Lies, damn lies and statistics. All the way up at 14% after a year and a half with under a year to go before the next version is out? That means it's going to peak at something under 30%. Sure, they sold lots of licenses nobody is using. They made Billions doing that. I hope that's not the kind of trick you can get people to fall for over and over. I wish I knew it for sure.