Hewlett-Packard (News - Alert) Company is making more parts of its webOS 3.0.5 mobile operating system available as open source components, in an effort to help webOS developers better understand the platform.
In a post on the HP webOS Developer Blog, webOS Chief Technical Officer Sam Greenblatt said the company will be publishing additional components from the current release of webOS for its TouchPad tablet, with the project’s deadline set for June. The components will be referred to in the future as “Community Edition.”
The open source release is separate from HP’s larger Open webOS project, which will open source a newer version of webOS. This is about enabling access to legacy code in order to provide members of the webOS community with the chance to work with “legacy” HP devices (that is, any device that runs webOS, from the Pre to the TouchPad) using its current platform.
“One of our core values is that as many components of future and legacy operating systems should be open to the community,” said Greenblatt. “We value the contributions the webOS community has made over the past few years, and hope that this additional release will help you better understand the platform and create a constructive environment for moving forward as Open webOS itself is released.”
Despite fears that HP would kill off its line of webOS devices entirely in the wake of stiff competition from Apple’s (News - Alert) iPad and iPhone, it seems the mobile operating system will live on. Indeed, Greenblatt says HP is “committed to the Open webOS roadmap.”
HP acquired webOS in 2010 when it bought the operating system’s creator, Palm, for approximately $1.2 billion.
The Community Edition code will be made available at opensource.palm.com.