4 ms·

It's hard to imagine a worse ending to the WebOS software.

by barredo 14y ago

lukifer 14y ago
The worst ending (darkest timeline?) would be WebOS not getting used for anything at all. I'm curious to see if it will stay open-source. At this point, though, Firefox OS has much more mindshare as a full-stack mobile web OS anyway.
- Indyan 14y ago
  Opera also has its own product for smart TVs and set top boxes, but not quite a full fledged mobile OS.
- calinet6 14y ago
  The problem is that anything could have much more mindshare. WebOS has negative mindshare; a new product built from the ground up with modern technology actually has a better chance of success (and indeed, that's likely to happen).
  - networked 14y ago
    >WebOS has negative mindshare I wouldn't be so categorical about that. There's at least a minority of users, most of them technical, that really appreciated WebOS for its capacity for multitasking and the UI, if nothing else [1]. (How relevant would this be in a TV OS is debatable.) Even today WebOS remains a good platform for hacking with an unofficial app marketplace [2] that's still actively maintained and offers, among other things, two "real" Linux distributions (Ubuntu and Debian chroots). I keep a Palm Pre Plus with Debian myself for use in various experiments (like making a time-lapse camera). I got it for cheap when it was clear that WebOS is in decline but now I (along with many others who did the same) would be in the market for a new WebOS device if one came out, though probably not a TV. [1] See, e.g., comments right here on HN: http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/comments&q=webos+multitasking&start=0 http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/comments&q=webos+..., http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/comments&q=webos+ui&start=0 http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/comments&q=webos+.... [2] http://www.webos-internals.org/wiki/Application:Preware http://www.webos-internals.org/wiki/Application:Preware
- happycube 14y ago
  Open WebOS is under the Apache 2 license, so no take-backs.
RexRollman 14y ago
Seems fitting to me, as Palm bought BeOS, accomplished nothing with it, and they sold it off to Access Co, who appears to have done nothing with it.
- mikecane 14y ago
  Hang on. That's not true. At one time the ELSE phone was hyped. http://youtu.be/M4sVGR5uRhc http://youtu.be/M4sVGR5uRhc It went nowhere, but at least it was something at one time.
  - bambax 14y ago
    The saddest video I've seen in a long time ;-)
  - mcbridematt 14y ago
    Similarly the BeOS platform morphed into Palm OS 6 (Cobalt), which only ever appeared in sample quantities from a phone OEM. (This was well after Palm spun off their OS business, but before PalmSource was acquired by ACCESS)
    - unwiredben 14y ago
      ...and then technology from Palm OS Cobalt, the Binder, migrated with engineers from that team to become part of the low-level system interface in Android.

It's hard to imagine a worse ending to the WebOS software.

by barredo 14y ago

It's hard to imagine a worse ending to the WebOS software.

The worst ending (darkest timeline?) would be WebOS not getting used for anything at all. I'm curious to see if it will stay open-source. At this point, though, Firefox OS has much more mindshare as a full-stack mobile web OS anyway.

Indyan 14y ago
Opera also has its own product for smart TVs and set top boxes, but not quite a full fledged mobile OS.
calinet6 14y ago
The problem is that anything could have much more mindshare. WebOS has negative mindshare; a new product built from the ground up with modern technology actually has a better chance of success (and indeed, that's likely to happen).
- networked 14y ago
  >WebOS has negative mindshare I wouldn't be so categorical about that. There's at least a minority of users, most of them technical, that really appreciated WebOS for its capacity for multitasking and the UI, if nothing else [1]. (How relevant would this be in a TV OS is debatable.) Even today WebOS remains a good platform for hacking with an unofficial app marketplace [2] that's still actively maintained and offers, among other things, two "real" Linux distributions (Ubuntu and Debian chroots). I keep a Palm Pre Plus with Debian myself for use in various experiments (like making a time-lapse camera). I got it for cheap when it was clear that WebOS is in decline but now I (along with many others who did the same) would be in the market for a new WebOS device if one came out, though probably not a TV. [1] See, e.g., comments right here on HN: http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/comments&q=webos+multitasking&start=0 http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/comments&q=webos+..., http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/comments&q=webos+ui&start=0 http://www.hnsearch.com/search#request/comments&q=webos+.... [2] http://www.webos-internals.org/wiki/Application:Preware http://www.webos-internals.org/wiki/Application:Preware
happycube 14y ago
Open WebOS is under the Apache 2 license, so no take-backs.

RexRollman 14y ago

Seems fitting to me, as Palm bought BeOS, accomplished nothing with it, and they sold it off to Access Co, who appears to have done nothing with it.

mikecane 14y ago
Hang on. That's not true. At one time the ELSE phone was hyped. http://youtu.be/M4sVGR5uRhc http://youtu.be/M4sVGR5uRhc It went nowhere, but at least it was something at one time.
- bambax 14y ago
  The saddest video I've seen in a long time ;-)
- mcbridematt 14y ago
  Similarly the BeOS platform morphed into Palm OS 6 (Cobalt), which only ever appeared in sample quantities from a phone OEM. (This was well after Palm spun off their OS business, but before PalmSource was acquired by ACCESS)
  - unwiredben 14y ago
    ...and then technology from Palm OS Cobalt, the Binder, migrated with engineers from that team to become part of the low-level system interface in Android.