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Intel Operating Systems Software Linux

Linux Foundation To Host Intel's Moblin Project 30

Posted by Soulskill from the degrees-of-openness dept.
gustavopuy writes with news that Intel will be transferring control of Moblin, its Linux-based OS for mobile devices, to the Linux Foundation. Quoting Ars Technica: "We spoke with Linux Foundation executive director Jim Zemlin, who told us that the Linux Foundation offers a vendor-neutral setting for advancing the Moblin project. He believes that such an environment will help stimulate third-party involvement in the process of building the platform and could also encourage broader adoption. ... Zemlin explained that the Linux Foundation's stewardship of the project will empower third-party contributors to expand the platform beyond its Intel-specific roots. He assures me that Intel sees value in making Moblin open to everyone — including companies that are leveraging Linux on competing processors, such as those based on the ARM architecture."
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Linux Foundation To Host Intel's Moblin Project More

Linux Foundation To Host Intel's Moblin Project

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  • Now if we just had a mobile device that ran the software!
    I've been waiting to upgrade my phone for several years now. I keep waiting for something that is really open. And with python. Has to have python.

    • Re:Now if we just had a mobile device... (Score:4, Informative)

      by hitmark ( 640295 ) on Sunday April 05, 2009 @10:08AM (#27465555) Journal

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

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

        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.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

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by hitmark ( 640295 )

          i didnt assume that its for phones, the parent poster did...

          • The parent poster seemed to think it would/might run on phones - true. But they didn't criticise the name based on their assumption - as you did... nor do you have to blindly follow their lead. Learn to take responsibility or, better still, perhaps read up on the subject before making comments ? Just a thought

            • Re: (Score:2)

              by hitmark ( 640295 )

              dont shoot the messenger.

              i have seen way to many people wonder if moblin is for mobile phones whenever moblin have shown up in relation to some topic or other.

              in the end, one start to wonder if a lot of the confusion would stop if they renamed it to something without mob(ile) in the name.

              and im not sure who of us is shooting from the hip based on assumptions...

              • dont shoot the messenger.

                i have seen way to many people wonder if moblin is for mobile phones whenever moblin have shown up in relation to some topic or other.

                ..which it may well do as the gap between smart-phone and MID narrow, which is happening very quickly at the moment. I don't have any problem people wondering, as long as they at least try and do the most cursory of checks - something the parent obviously hadn't bothered doing

                in the end, one start to wonder if a lot of the confusion would stop if

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by fuzzyfuzzyfungus ( 1223518 )
      Dude, you're getting a Nokia [symbian.com]!

    • I've been waiting to upgrade my phone for several years now. I keep waiting for something that is really open. And with python. Has to have python.

      I'm running python right now on my really open (except the firmware on the GSM-modem) Neo Freerunner [openmoko.com].

  • Moblin always puzzled me.... (Score:5, Interesting)

    by fuzzyfuzzyfungus ( 1223518 ) on Sunday April 05, 2009 @09:53AM (#27465439) Journal
    I was pleased, back when intel announced the project; but very much puzzled. I thought that intel was, on the whole, an enormous beneficiary of Windows' dominance. Since Windows is pretty much stuck on x86(with some minor activity on IA-64), as long as "computer" = "runs windows" for most of the population, then "computer" = "x86". And, in x86, intel is pretty comfortable indeed. VIA is of minimal consequence and AMD, while fighting gamely, doesn't seem to be much of a threat these days.

    So, that being the case, why would intel push a Linux project? Did MS piss them off in some extremely serious way? Is intel simply so confident in the strength of their architecture and manufacturing process that they don't think competition from ARM et al. will reduce their profits? Does intel think that the entire "wintel" segment, of more or less traditional desktops and laptops, will eventually be replaced by MIDs or smartphones, or something and they don't want to be left behind?

    This announcement furthers my puzzlement. Unless it is just a polite way of killing the project, which it might be I suppose, it substantially increases the likelihood that Moblin will be running on competitors widgets in the near future. Anybody have insight on why intel would be so sanguine about it?

    • Re:Moblin always puzzled me.... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by poetmatt ( 793785 ) on Sunday April 05, 2009 @10:03AM (#27465519) Journal

      Why? Maybe people don't want to be tied to the windows market in general?

      Lots of people are seeing the alternates begin to stretch beyond simple embedded devices and servers, so its understandable. We have HP, google, intel, everyone setting up their own non-windows stuff as they have been for years. I mean it's not like Moblin came out today.

      Intel is at its core, a processor maker. I'd suspect they are agnostic to windows from that perspective.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by hitmark ( 640295 )

      intel intended it for use on MID's, basically a intel atom variant on the nokia internet tablet (or a very scaled down umpc/scaled up PDA, if you will).

      thing is that the MID's took longer then expected to come to market, and at the same time asus dropped the netbook bombshell, triggering a huge interest in atom for other uses, both mobile and stationary.

      and the few MID's thats gotten to market have been turned into UMPC's by enthusiasts hell bent on running windows (specifically XP) on anything X86 compatib

    • Windows may be the dominating x86 desktop platform, it is nowhere near the top in the mobile phone platform. I don't know the real statistics but I'm pretty certain they're bringing up the rear in that field, but Intel certainly would want a piece of that area if possible.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by spectrokid ( 660550 )
      This is for MOBILE devices. We are not talking Vista here, we are talking Windows Mobile. Microsoft has a notorious history of pouring billions of Windows Tax dollars into other platforms and having very little to show for it. And when they do, they don't mind running around Intel either. The Windows Mobile on my HTC sure like shit isn't running x86. Intel needs a winner on the mobile phone market, and they can't count on automatic MS dominance there. And if you are talking ever cheaper netbooks, then

    • Re:Moblin always puzzled me.... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Comatose51 ( 687974 ) on Sunday April 05, 2009 @10:54AM (#27465803) Homepage

      "Is intel simply so confident in the strength of their architecture and manufacturing process that they don't think competition from ARM et al. will reduce their profits?"

      Yes. I've been at a lunch "meeting" with a VP of Intel when I was in college and he basically told us that Intel is not really a chip designer or anything like that. Their strength is their ability to manufacture silicon products better and cheaper than anyone else. Whatever they can do to promote more use of silicon based products is a win for them. In other words, they're not tied to x86 or any one architecture. Given the current state of chip manufacturing I would have to agree that Intel is far ahead of everyone else.

    • Re:Moblin always puzzled me.... (Score:4, Interesting)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 ) <drink@hyperlogos.org> on Sunday April 05, 2009 @12:40PM (#27466719) Homepage Journal

      This announcement furthers my puzzlement. Unless it is just a polite way of killing the project, which it might be I suppose, it substantially increases the likelihood that Moblin will be running on competitors widgets in the near future. Anybody have insight on why intel would be so sanguine about it?

      Intel is banking on being able to provide the preferred hardware solution. So far they have been correct. Only rarely has anyone outdone them in the price-performance-power(consumption) triangle. Core 2 Duo and Atom are both smoking hot, although as always only late-generation intel chipsets ever have much performance.

      I keep waiting for AMD to bring out something with competitive horsepower that's as amazing as the Geode LX was. CPU+Chipset's TDP is about 5 watts at the 500MHz mark. Until then, there's intel...

      • Take whatever CPU you want, add the north bridge power drain, then compare it to the Atom plus its gigantic CPU of a north bridge. I will not spoil the results for you. :)

        • You can't spoil the results for me, because I've already looked up such things. All first-gen atom notebooks have a dorito for a chipset. Even more hilarious is that the original desktop Athlon64+Chipset has better power consumption than a Core Duo T2600+Chipset at about the same clock rate. Yowza! Intel is going to have to figure out this chipset power consumption thing, and fast. The big problem is that only Intel and rarely SIS have ever managed to make a decent fucking chipset the first time around, you

          • SIS? I made some veeery bad experiences with them, and avoid them at all cost. Same as ALi, and nVidia (the nForce designers shoud be taken out an shot* ^^).

            So you say VIA chipsets are bad too?

            Then this only leaves the CPU manufacturers. Mostly intel.

            Hmm. Bad.

            ___
            * I'm talking about the debacle with their bus that made the hard disks create crackling it the sound card output, even for highly professional music cards, making it impossible to make any music on such boards. And I'm talking about the thing I hav

    • That makes them dependant on Microsoft's goodwill. Microsoft's past actions(Symantec, and others) was that partners can and should be sacrificed to prevent Microsoft from hurting. Obviously, Intel doesn't like the idea much.

  • With a name like Moblin, I thought they'd have Nintendo host it.

    • I'm surprised you're the only one on the thread who remembers Moblins. I felled many a moblin with my arrows in the Zelda days of yore!

  • There are already several projects to ensure Linux software runs well on small devices. What would be best is if Gnome or KDE could scale easily to accommodate tiny resolutions, but if not, hopefully this project is just another desktop environment that could be chosen from the login screen? ^^

    My point is: standards. Don't let companies create proprietary Linux projects if and where possible.

    I would still really like to see a unified driver specification for all graphics cards... :P

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