From LiPS to LiMo – The Mobile Linux Divide?

While backers of mobile Linux are all trying to increase Linux adoption, the
question for vendors has been which mobile Linux effort they should back
among the crowd of mobile Linux organizations.

In the case of Trolltech, maker of the popular Qtopia mobile Linux platform,
they’ve chosen to move from the LiPS (The
Linux Phone Standards) effort to the Motorola backed LiMo Foundation effort.
The Trolltech move could be a sign of consolidation within the mobile Linux
market or it could be a sign the multi-billion dollar mobile Linux market
will remain fragmented.

Benoit Schillings, Trolltech CTO told InternetNews.com that his
company did not renew its membership within LiPS because in his opinion LiMo
is now superseding what LiPS is trying to do.

The LiMo Foundation was launched back in January of 2007 with Motorola, NEC,
NTT DoCoMo, Panasonic Mobile Communications, Samsung Electronics, and
Vodafone. Today they added Trolltech Acrodea, ETRI, Huawei and Purple Labs s
members.

While Trolltech’s Schillings noted there is some overlap in the membership
of LiPS and LiMo, he expects that the learning’s from LiPS will eventually be
part of LiMo. Overall, Schillings agreed that there are a lot of different
mobile Linux groups today, though in his view there is currently a degree of
consolidation taking place.

“It was tempting for a number of organizations to get into mobile Linux and
try and start a standard platform initiative but in the end it is much more
work than most anybody envisioned,” Schillings said. “It’s easy to start but
hard to finish.”

Schillings argued that if all a Mobile Linux standards group does is focus
on the framework, then they’re missing something. In his view that’s where he
sees LiMo’s difference – in that they understand what operators want.

This article was first published on InternetNews.com. To read the full article, click here.