Waiting for a MeeGo: Intel and Nokia to Open Repository
Following the announcement in February, the subsequent weeks were pretty quiet around the MeeGo mobile platform. The reason why: no code.
If it were up to Intel and Nokia, we'd be seeing the first devices with the new platform around the end of year. MeeGo is a merge of Maemo and Moblin. However, there's been a general silence about it since the announcement mid-February, with no nice screenshots or source code publicly available.
One reason for the silence is the particularities of the merger. While Intel meant its Moblin platform primarily for netbooks and smartphones based on its Atom processor, Nokia's Maemo and its related devices are based specifically on the ARM platform. Many Maemo fans thus fear that Maemo will get short shrift in relation to Moblin. That this is not the case was raised rather vehemently by Valtteri Halla, coleader of the MeeGo technical steering group, in a blog the beginning of March. According to Halla, Nokia's N900 will serve as a reference design next to Intel's Atom motherboards for MeeGo development. Work is supposedly being done at a high pitch to get the first MeeGo release out by the end of March.
Big tickets
While ARM and x86 are being developed in parallel, the merger required three commonalities, which Hallas describes as the "big ticket items":
- Qt should be implemented as the widget set (which is no surprise after Nokia's takeover of Trolltech). Maemo was originally based on the Gtk widget set, but a transition to Qt was already planned for MeeGo from the start.
- The package manager should transition from apt-get to RPM (or yum), which Intel had been advocating, a decision with a direct bearing on the third big ticket item:
- The build environment. For this, the three partners, Intel, Nokia and the hosting Linux Foundation, settled on the OpenSUSE Build Service. Intel had already integrated Moblin into the build service with some success.
What's ahead?
Before code can be released, a common code basis and repository are needed. Recently the MeeGo team requested from the steering group to form a repository working group that would be responsible for managing the public repository.
Then there are a number of smaller ticket items to discuss. As Hallas writes, some agreement prevails as to using X.org as the X server, Connman as the network manager, Gstreamer, D-Bus and the commonly developed Ofono telephony solution. Another item under discussion is the browser. While some developers are already working on Firefox Fennec for MeeGo, Arjan van de Ven, on the MeeGo developer list, is advocating Webkit or Chrome for better performance reasons:
"I would be seriously concerned about using either Firefox or Fennec on a mobile device. Looking at the current ecosystem, it's very clear that webkit is winning on the small side of the hardware world, and on the big side, it's making big strides as well with Chrome. While I don't want to discourage discussion, I think taking one step back and wondering if Fennec is the right choice in the first place would be very appropriate...."
A compromise solution being considered is using Webkit to access the Web, then Fennec or some other as the standard browser. Once these details are cleared up and the source packages are ready, we can count on a first test version. If this can occur by end of March is questionable based on the ongoing discussion, so we'll likely hear more about it in April.
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
Linux Servers Targeted by Akira Ransomware
A group of bad actors who have already extorted $42 million have their sights set on the Linux platform.
-
TUXEDO Computers Unveils Linux Laptop Featuring AMD Ryzen CPU
This latest release is the first laptop to include the new CPU from Ryzen and Linux preinstalled.
-
XZ Gets the All-Clear
The back door xz vulnerability has been officially reverted for Fedora 40 and versions 38 and 39 were never affected.
-
Canonical Collaborates with Qualcomm on New Venture
This new joint effort is geared toward bringing Ubuntu and Ubuntu Core to Qualcomm-powered devices.
-
Kodi 21.0 Open-Source Entertainment Hub Released
After a year of development, the award-winning Kodi cross-platform, media center software is now available with many new additions and improvements.
-
Linux Usage Increases in Two Key Areas
If market share is your thing, you'll be happy to know that Linux is on the rise in two areas that, if they keep climbing, could have serious meaning for Linux's future.
-
Vulnerability Discovered in xz Libraries
An urgent alert for Fedora 40 has been posted and users should pay attention.
-
Canonical Bumps LTS Support to 12 years
If you're worried that your Ubuntu LTS release won't be supported long enough to last, Canonical has a surprise for you in the form of 12 years of security coverage.
-
Fedora 40 Beta Released Soon
With the official release of Fedora 40 coming in April, it's almost time to download the beta and see what's new.
-
New Pentesting Distribution to Compete with Kali Linux
SnoopGod is now available for your testing needs