Slashdot Mirror
HP Donates To WebOS's Major Hombrewing Group
Kilrah_il writes "WebOS Internals Group is the central repository for all the homebrewing done on the WebOS platform, including apps, patches and kernels. Recently it became clear that server infrastructure would fall behind future progress in the WebOS world. 'So they asked HP's Phil McKinney, who has arranged to donate an HP Proliant DL385 2u server with 32 gigs of RAM and 8 terabytes of disk space... Notably, this is a straight-up donation, no strings attached — so WebOS Internals will remain how they always have: completely independent from the company whose OS they hack on.'"
sounds like some kind of anime.
Now this is the sort of good PR you'd love to hear from a major company. Not legal threats (even if it's a mere cease-and-desist) against people trying to squeeze more juice from a device which they presumably own.
With the Palm acquisition, HP found themselves with a fairly nice mobile OS(with reasonable prospects of also doing Meego-esque tablet/netbook stuff); but one that was more or less dead last(even WinMo6.x has a legacy base).
It seems reasonable, then, for them to cozy up to the platform homebrewers. They are the conveniently-already-self-selected group who has the greatest enthusiasm for the product. They will also be the ones who volunteer themselves to test dubiously stable new features, experiment with stuff, and so forth. A useful asset, particularly if one does not have a large group of developers who support your platform for financial reasons.
Also, since(unlike Android or WP7), HP is currently the only distributor of WebOS devices, they have comparatively little to lose if homebrew ROMs circulate around. The only issue that might induce them to take a harder stance would be if commercial publishers start crying about piracy. We'll see if that happens...
Seriously, HP tends to get a lot of crap, but this is pretty awesome. I hope they can keep this up.
HP probably made that server for $1000. $10K cash wouldve been something interesting. a server worth 10K in HP cash is bleh.
ProLiant servers are a recipe for hardware failure. Every single one I have had the displeasure of working with over the course of 13 years has had a horrific, hardware failure of some kind. Anything in the "Compaq" side of HP should be avoided like the plague.
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, START
How can that even be?
(off topic) With "Hombrewing" and "J. C. Penny" [sic] on the front page, it seems that today's Slashdot is definitely not brought to you by the letter "E".
Anyway... Kudos to HP!
continuing the support that Palm already extended to the webOS community. I had a problem with google syncing my calendar when I first got my Pre Plus so I called the support line about that and yahoo messnger and Palm sent me to precentral for quote "all the IM, media players, and apps you cant find in the catalog" unquote. I am glad they are taking these steps. As fan of webOS I am glad to see this.
if someone gives you a gift that keeps you from going out of business, you are not independent.
unless, perhaps, you pay them back.
Glad to see the webOS internals guys getting some well deserved credit and recognition. Without them webOS would have been a waste of time.
IF HP can do what they are trying, then Apple and Android may well be playing catch up in the not too distant future. HP is creating an OS environment that can go from desktop to laptop, to touch slates to cell phones without skipping a beat. Data and applications synchronized, seamlessly across devices. Scalable at an enterprise level with enterprise tools. No hodgepodge of Windows + iOS + Blackberry + Linux each with separate management tools. It's one stop shopping with a powerhouse like HP supporting it and for consumers, supporting the home brew community.
The prospects are quite exciting. Only time will reveal the results.
It's only when you have nothing to lose that you realize that you have everything to gain.
"Some books contain the machinery required to create and sustain universes."-Tycho
How can that even be?
I'm sure it has something to do with fuzzy math and imaginary numbers, but WinPhone7 has new phones on the market - and more importantnly in consumer's hands. Until the new WebOS phones actually go on sale they are in 4th place.
I think you confused his mom's vagina for your dad's anus. Totally understandable as they both are frequently seen wearing dresses.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
Apple knows that the best and the brightest developers write code for their platforms first and then, if they have the time, they may port their work to inferior platforms like Windows or whatever later. When you build the best software, you don't have to worry about idiot "homebrew" types hacking your stuff from their parent's basement, because those kinds of guys are the dregs of the app developer community, typically the kind of idiot graybeards who still use Linux or Windows and don't realize that the state of the art has long since passed them by.
This is something you'd expect from Palm. Palm has for sometime allowed people to do what they want. Here's the facts: a. if you're a hacker -- you're doing it for your own good mostly (because if something breaks you can fix it). b. Why spend money to prevent all this stuff for the small minority that do it? Is it worth all the r&d? c. good ideas come from small places. Things can be learned by what the hacking community is focused on. HINT here Apple. real mulitasking!!! all the jailbreakers wanted it and got it. I like palm/hp so i hope they come up big. they should look at the android market as Blackberry is to help get them back in the game.
I was following Meego for the last few months and it was starting to look like the best alternative to Android for those that are completely annoyed by the closed Android phones and are left with only the Nexus S (with unimpressive hardware) or Geeksphone (even more unimpressive hardware) that are actually open in the true sense of the word. I was very disappointed to hear that Nokia isn't pushing Meego full steam onto the best hardware they can make. I considered WebOS for a bit based on some of the comments I've heard about the homebrew community, but my impression of the openness of system is that it is fully proprietary Linux and thus not an open system. Is there an equivalent of the AOSP? There other problem is that I don't get very excited about the Pre 3 hardware. A 3.6" screen? That is too small. I want something like Hitatchi's 4.5" 1280x720 screen and unitil that is available, I at least want a 4 to 4.3" 960x540 screen.
Is WebOS really going to grab any Meego deserters?
Common sense from a major corporation? Must have been an accident!
Until the new WebOS phones actually go on sale they are in 4th place.
4th???
The smartphone market share for the last quarter of 2010 was:
Android (33%)
Symbian (32%)
iOS (16%)
Blackberry (15%)
Microsoft, old and new OSs combined share (3%)
WebOS would be 6th or worse.
I fully agree that a not-yet-released device can't very well hold a top selling position; but I was also under the impression that MS releases mostly numbers for devices shipped as opposed to sold to consumers, so it's a bit hard to say where they stand. Safe bet that there's at least a few junkies out there who bought one, though.
What a depressingly stupid machine.
HP is picking up from where Nokia left off -- quite literally, having hired Nokia's MeeGo boss to head the WebOS development.
Elop was wrong, this is not a three-way race. It's a two-way race between the wannabe monopolists who want to tie the consumers in leashes and the technology companies who want to sell the customers useful things that make their lives easier and more enjoyable. As a customer, I definitely prefer the success of the latter vision, but the trillion-dollar question is, are there enough of us?
They should have donated one of the iTanics they have lying around, I'm sure they are numerous
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Can no one fix the spelling?
So, I guess a summary is:
iPhone: jailbreak and be willing to be excommunicated from Apple, and you have root
Droid: jailbreak, and you have root
Pre: enter dev mode, and you have root
N900: you have root
404555974007725459910684486621289147856453481154 in hex is "You sank my Battleship?"
[GPG key in journal]