Four large mobile phone vendors, together with two major wireless operators, will create an open Linux implementation for mobile phones. Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic, Samsung, and Vodafone say their Linux implementation will provide a global standard, and prevent the ‘fragmentation’ of mobile phone Linux.
prevent fragmentation?
This makes the fourth mobile phone Linux consortium. There’s CE-Linux, the OSDL telephony initiative, LiPS, and now this.
Not to mention that Nokia, Motorola, PalmSource/Access, and Trolltech all already have products that are incompatible with each other.
And, bringing up the rear, there’s handhelds.org.
Exactly.
In fact, the problem is even worst than desktop Linux. At least on desktop Linux, while some packages are not compatible between distros, there is a serious level of compatibility between them. The situation is not disastreous among RPM or among DEB-based distros.
In the mobile space though, *nothing* is compatible between all these Linux implementations. They are systems that are engineered from scratch and they have lots and lots of differences.
To me, this is terribly big chance lost for Linux. If ALL these companies were trying to create ONE Linux implementation with a defined SDK and compatible packaging with each other, then and only then they stood a good chance against Symbian and WM5.
A pity.
will this ever work?
Edited 2006-06-17 16:28