OpenSUSE Ambassador Roger Luedecke has just started a petition towards the Hewlett-Packackard Company (HP) to release the WebOS source code under the GPL license. Luedecke says, “I care deeply about this very important issue”. WebOS is a mobile operating system based on Linux and was originally developed by handheld computer producer Palm, who are now a subsidy of HP. According to Luedecke, HP is know to be FOSS friendly to a remarkable degree. There are hopes that his petition might trigger some action at HP, though nothing can be forced. That’s why the openSUSE community is asked to support this petition. Luedecke writes: “Ultimately we can’t pressure them in regards to a technology they own, not poxet 30 so far as I know. But its worth a shot.”
Thanks for the publicity, I really hope we can push this and keep the signatures coming in. Such a promising technology should not be placed in a closet and forgotten. If HP won’t get it on devices anymore, they can at least pay tribute to the spirit of Linux which powers it by releasing the code. Frankly I think all discontinued software should have the code released, but considering what I have seen with HP and the importance of this platform I have to do whatever I can to assure it continues.