HP has announced it will make webOS open source. The operating system is used on the HP TouchPad, which became a hot item after HP discounted the tablet to just $99 last this summer.
Meg Whitman, HP president and chief executive officer, said in a statement, "webOS is the only platform designed from the ground up to be mobile, cloud-connected and scalable. By contributing this innovation, HP unleashes the creativity of the open source community to advance a new generation of applications and devices."
HP says it will engage the open source community to help define the charter of the open source project under a set of operating principles:
The goal of the project is to accelerate the open development of the webOS platform
HP will be an active participant and investor in the project
Good, transparent and inclusive governance to avoid fragmentation
Software will be provided as a pure open source project
A Guardianarticle about HP's open source move says HP believes there are currently 750,000 installed devices running on webOS.
HP has 
