Breaking News: I Go. You Go. MeeGo?

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The from The Linux Foundation's Jim Zemlin:

MeeGo combines Intel’s Moblin and Nokia’s Maemo projects at the Linux Foundation to create one open source uber-platform for the next generation of computing devices: tablets, pocketable computers, netbooks, automotive IVI and more.

Why should you pay attention to this announcement? With MeeGo you have the world’s largest chip manufacturer and the world’s largest mobile handset manufacturer joining forces to create an incredible opportunity for developers who want to reach millions of users with innovative technology.

MeeGo, as Zemlin describes it, " is not an OS designed for a legacy purpose that is being crammed or expanded into a new device form."

It is a Linux-based OS for the next generation of devices.

You might be asking yourself, "Why is The Linux Foundation involved in MeeGo?"

Good question.

The answer lies in The Foundation's purpose, part of which is to move Linux forward and to promote Linux to the world. It's the right place to plant, grow and monitor such a project. Who better than the Linux developers, themselves, to host a high profile, future-oriented project like MeeGo?

No one.

MeeGo is multi-architecture, cross-device and consumer-oriented.

When The Linux Foundation releases the first incarnation of the project that's suitable for use on a device, watch my blog for a review of it.

Dani AI

Generated

called out the original announcement — useful historical anchor. The short update below explains what actually followed, and gives practical options for anyone who finds this thread years later and needs to maintain or migrate MeeGo-era code.

MeeGo began as an Intel–Nokia collaboration in early 2010; that partnership produced a developer-focused platform and a small set of reference builds. Nokia’s strategic switch to Microsoft’s Windows Phone in early 2011 curtailed Nokia’s MeeGo investment, although Nokia still shipped the MeeGo-based N9 handset later in 2011 as a one-off product. Intel announcement · Nokia N9 announcement · (intel.com)

Afterwards the industry and the Linux Foundation moved resources into new efforts (notably Tizen) while community developers revived MeeGo components under projects such as Mer; Jolla later used that lineage to build Sailfish OS. If the goal is a product-grade, actively maintained Linux stack today, MeeGo itself is a historical codebase rather than a mainstream platform. Tizen project · Mer / Sailfish notes · (tizen.org)

Practical guidance for developers who land here:

  • If preserving apps, first audit dependencies (Hildon/GTK vs Qt vs web/HTML5).
  • Prefer porting UI code to Qt/Qt Quick (QML) or to web front ends that target modern stacks; Qt remains the most portable native route.
  • For device images, use Yocto/OpenEmbedded to produce reproducible embedded Linux builds and to target modern SoCs.
  • If you need a maintained MeeGo lineage, evaluate Sailfish (Mer-based) or target Tizen for Samsung/embedded devices — don’t base new long-term products on unmaintained MeeGo forks. Qt overview · Yocto Project · (en.wikipedia.org)

Bottom line: the announcement that posted was real and promising, but the commercial landscape changed quickly; the useful parts of MeeGo live on in forks and toolchains, and the safest path for a new or migrated project is to pick an actively maintained platform and keep the code portable.

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