My previous blog post about MeeGo was completely off-base. So it looks like Nokia decided to go with Windows Phone 7. Personally I don’t see the point, but then again I don’t run a Fortune 500 firm either. Apparently there are still plans for a MeeGo powered handset/mobile computer. Sometime in May, maybe? However it does not bode well for us from the Maemo community.
So what about the dreams of having a real Linux running on handsets, netbooks and all that jazz? Well it looks like WebOS gets that privilege and honour. Maybe others will run with MeeGo, but this all is starting to all look a lot like the OpenMoko or LiMo. In other words, a Linux + GCC + X + Gtk + Qt stack is something that for now will remain in the corner. Something that the free software idealists, early adopters and researchers will run. But otherwise, rather irrelevant to the rest of the world. I’m also worried that closed, locked down garden walled ecosystems will prosper rather than something totally free and flexible. So Stallman’s dystopian future of the Luna colonies looks all the more real, each and every day.
So what about our man, Nokia, jumping off a burning oil platform into the “safety” of the North Sea, as CEO Elop so eloquently quipped? Hope they don’t die of shock. The North Sea is not exactly a safe and nice place to take a pleasant dip into. I wish them the best and hope they don’t end up washed up on the shore of some strange mobile country as a frozen corpse. Because baby, it is cold outside (the mainstream mobile ecosystems).
So where does that leave us? Knowing Qt is still a good idea for other reasons. The Maemo user and developer community should prepare to become self-sufficient because there probably will not be anymore Maemo-like devices out there. As for MeeGo? Come back in May and we’ll see if anyone gives a damn. The most widely adopted, open and flexible mobile OS right now is Android. At least thats how I see things playing out.
Nokia is ditching Symbian & Meego for WP7. MS said WP7 is for ARM only. Then Intel is getting screwed?
Well everyone who worked on and promoted MeeGo is screwed over by Elop’s little stunt. Especially since MeeGo is very much ready for release on handsets. But like Intel mentioned, Nokia isn’t the only major contributer to this project. And MeeGo will get put on netbooks, in-vehicle and tablets. Just without Nokia, there will be no major pusher of MeeGo for handsets. So not much chance of MeeGo taking off as a smartphone OS.
Still I think things will work out. Qt is fast on the track to adopting an open source foundation, so that the project will not be held hostage by Nokia. And there a lot of organizations pushing MeeGo… Intel, Splashtop and Avaya for instance. And who knows who else will pick it up.
And I still plan on running a dual boot system and hopefully will contribute to MeeGo once all this gets resolved.