Intel Launches Mobile Linux Project

An anonymous reader writes "Intel has unveiled an ambitious project aimed at developing open source software for mobile devices. The Moblin project comprises a Linux kernel, UI framework, browser, multimedia framework, and embedded Linux image creation tools, along with developer resources such as documentation, mailing lists, and an IRC channel. Intel says it hopes Moblin will serve as a 'point of integration' for multiple sub-projects, and appears eager to see devices such as its Mobile Internet Device design, and chipsets such as its Ultra Mobile Platform 2007 platform, be thoroughly supported by Linux. Although all of the projects currently focus on the Intel architecture, Moblin says it is open to hosting support for other processor architectures."

Comments

I used to like handhelds

[Wooky_linuxer]

I owned a Clié running PalmOS, an older Cassiopeia running WindowsCE, or sort of. I bought a Dell X50v, VGA screen and everything, and sold it after a few months. Currently own a Nokia 770, which runs Debian, and I have an older Symbian smartphone as well. While novel interfaces like the one in the iPhone, multitouch included, may help with the accessibility of handheld devices, I came not so long ago to a striking conclusion: form-factor makes handhelds impractical. Either they are too small to have a decent, readable screen and convenient input method, or they are too big to be portable. The iPhone is big for a mobile phone, and even then its input methods are only so so. UMPCs attained a laughable market share - they are not portable. Then anything smaller than 10" is hard to view, and even harder to type in. I fear OLPC, or however they are called today, might fail because of their smallish screen.

So basically I can't see how a mobile device running Linux will suceed in the market, just because it runs Linux. It is great seeing Linux gaining more support and everything, and it will probably bring the costs down, but even then the problem with this kind of device is that it doesn't fit the needs of the intended users, or most of them - few geeks that like to ssh into their servers in the basement from their mobile phones like me doesn't count. The concept is essentially flawed, blame our phisiology if you want.