It all starts with the release of the source code for Enyo, its developer platform

Jan 26, 2012 10:09 GMT  ·  By

HP is committed to make webOS open source, and has just announced plans to complete the transition to the new licensing model by fall 2012.

September is the month during which the webOS would go open source, the company announced, adding that it had already kicked off the transition process, and that it had released version 2.0 of its developer tool, Enyo.

With the new Enyo 2.0, developers will be able to come up with applications that can work on a variety of mobile devices and desktop browsers, including Internet Explorer and Firefox. They would also be compatible with webOS, iOS and Android operating systems.

HP has already made available the source code for Enyo, so that the community would be able to immediately access the acclaimed application framework for webOS.

“HP is bringing the innovation of the webOS platform to the open source community,” said Bill Veghte, executive vice president and chief strategy officer, HP.

“This is a decisive step toward meeting our goal of accelerating the platform’s development and ensuring that its benefits will be delivered to the entire ecosystem of web applications.”

The webOS code will be released to the public under the Apache License, Version 2.0. The release of Enyo’s source code is the first step HP takes in this direction.

The company is also set to make the source code for individual elements of the mobile operating system available during the first half of the year. The releases will include core applications such as Mail and Calendar, along with the platform’s Linux kernel.

The release roadmap would include QT WebKit extensions, JavaScript core and UI Enyo widgets in February, along with intended project governance model.

The Linux standard kernel, Graphics extensions EGL, LevelDB and USB extensions will be released in March, followed by Ares 2.0, Enyo 2.1, and Node services in April.

July will bring along System manager (“Luna”), System manager bus, Core applications, and Enyo 2.2, while August will deliver the Open webOS Beta and a Build release model. Open webOS 1.0 will arrive in September.

“Enyo 1.0 made it simple to write apps that worked on a variety of webOS form factors. Version 2.0 extends this “write once, run anywhere” capability to a range of other platforms, including mobile and desktop web browsers,” HP notes. The source code for Enyo is available on the Palm developer blog.

“The Apache License, Version 2.0 is commonly used to govern contributions to open source software projects. It provides a legal framework that balances open innovation and a dependable user experience, which is consistent with HP’s vision for webOS,” the company explains.