MeeGo: Open source Linux Developer

With the release of the MeeGo Linux platform for the fusion of Intel Moblin and Nokia Maemo, the two companies want to improve the unity of the ecosystem, win cooperation, and develop MeeGo into an industry-standard mobile Linux platform that supports a wide range of terminal equipment and processor platforms. Intel and Nokia have collaborated with the Linux Foundation to build a broader camp to keep manufacturers neutral.

In March, Intel released its first version of the Meego operating system development version to developers, one of which was used to configure the Intel Atom Processor Netbook and another version for Nokia's N900 smartphone. Doug Fisher, vice president of Intel's Software and services division, says Meego is a cross-platform Linux operating system platform built for next-generation computing devices, a Linux based open source software platform for smartphones, netbooks, tablets, networked TVs, Multimedia telephone and car entertainment information system

In April, the Intel 2010 Beijing Information Technology Summit (IDF2010) showcased future applications of Meego smartphones, netbooks and networked TVs. IDF2010 Beijing's Meego lecture venue, crowded, enthusiastic; in each session of the question and answer session, the on-site Linux developer's questions are quite standard, many technicians are involved in Linux for many years of the project cattle and programming experts.

May, MeeGo 1.0 official release and provide download. The release of MeeGo 1.0 includes two parts, including the complete MeeGo 1.0 Netbook user Experience, the MeeGo 1.0 and N900 MeeGo 1.0 core software platforms that support the Intel Atom Processor for Netbook edition.

For more than three months, open source players have done something or are looking forward to it. The Idf2010,meego 1.0 beta in Beijing is officially on the platform of the Acer Aspire one pen, which is equipped with the Intel N450 processor. Meego is becoming the biggest playground for Linux open source operating systems. Application developers to write a one-time program, can be used for smartphones, netbooks, tablets, networking TV, multimedia phones and car entertainment information system, such as all the application of hardware platform, which is Meego commitment and strategic development direction, but also the increasingly popular smartphone field competition strategy.

Developers look forward to MeeGo1.0

April 6, is the first day of Meego development opening-up, this is Maemo and Moblin comprehensive combination of the last step. "The efforts of Nokia and Intel's global teams to share MeeGo operating system code with the open source community have reached a peak, and we are delighted to open these databases and open the process of development," Imad Sousou, director of the Intel Open Source Technology Center, MeeGo TSG, wrote on the blog. , as we did in the beginning. "In the early days, providing some critical MeeGo source code meant that the project was indeed as promised, and that development was very transparent and open." He said there was still much work to be done before the platform was released to consumers. The official release of the MeeGo 1.0 version will be in mid-May.

What is Meego open? Sousou introduces the Meego distributed infrastructure, the LINUX core operating system infrastructure, the OS infrastructure, and the middleware layer. The MeeGo infrastructure is based on a common Core and employs different modes of use, such as netbooks, laptops, on-board devices and networked TVs. The MeeGo shared core includes different key child service systems, such as core operating system libraries, communication and telephony services, internet and social services, video services, media services, data management, device services, and personal services.

There are three architectures in the repository of Meego code, each supporting a different hardware platform, based on the Atom processor netbook, the arm based Nokia N900, and the Atom based portable device (Moorestown architecture). One developer said in the journal, "I see the pattern is similar to Apple's, with the iphone, ipod Touch and ipad Three mobile devices using the same iphone OS, Nokia and Intel are developing a mobile platform that is attractive to both consumers and developers, Can be run on different hardware. It is a bit premature to assert what they do, but I will certainly follow their progress. ”

The developer also mentions that the first time I saw Moblin on a netbook, I was impressed by an early architecture. Maemo also offers some other positive experiences, especially those related to browsing and voice communication. So I can't wait to see the combination of these two operating systems.

Reasons for developers to portrait Meego

"The Meego project has received enthusiastic support from industry vendors and developers, and it is hoped that this will capture the market opportunities created by the next generation of computing equipment." With the help of common tools and open source technology, Meego developers will be able to easily develop suitable products to meet market demand and gain maximum market share. "says Jim Zemlin, executive director of the Linux Foundation.

According to Intel, Meego's strategic positioning is a wide range of areas across interconnected computing applications, as an Open-source software platform that helps to reduce market fragmentation and complexity, promote industry development and innovation, and shorten time-to-market for next-generation devices.

The above information is from the official. So what benefits can Meego bring to developers? On the official website of Meego, Meego.com, a gifted Linux enthusiast from computer programmers. Edward (Ed) Borasky gives the four comparative advantages of Meego, quite representative:

First, Meego is a fully open source platform. Apple, by contrast, is largely closed, while Android is mostly open, but the Chrome OS is only open at the device level, and the actual application is running inside Google. Second, Meego is a single operating system platform that supports different devices such as handheld devices and netbooks, with Apple's platform for Iphone/ipad and laptops/desktops, but not netbooks, and Google has two system platforms, one for handheld devices, One is for netbooks. Third, with enough RAM and processor support, the Meego device can run almost any Linux application. For Apple, most open-source applications can run on OS X notebooks and desktops, but applications running on Iphone/ipad need to be developed specifically for the platform. Also, Android apps need to be developed specifically for the platform, and Chrome OS netbooks simply can't run any apps, just support browsers.

In addition, for developers, it's easy to work with Meego. "While Linux is only 1% per cent of the desktop/notebook market, my personal situation is very different, Linux accounts for 99% of my attention, and 1% is Windows Vista weekly virus scans and system upgrades," he said. ”

Widely supported QT development tools

A lot of friends are asking, Meego from Moblin Evolution come over why become QT instead of previous gtk/clutter? Is it just because of the cooperation with Nokia? "There is no doubt that cooperation with Nokia is an important reason," said Shijiangping, an application engineer at Intel's software and services division, "but the choice of QT as the most important development platform for Linux is Meego for the following reasons." ”

The first thing to say is that QT is a widely supported platform, many distributions have been the preferred KDE (QT-based window manager), such as Kubuntu, openSUSE, and so on, and compared to GNOME,GTK in C language, QT is C + +, this is a simple difference, So the development program relative, only relatively, GTK program execution efficiency will be higher, QT program development environment mature, high efficiency, code reuse high, maintenance is also convenient. Second, QT has a sound development tool: Compared to GTK, the most commercial version, its development tool interface more complete, more functional, QT UI designer, although I do not use much, but the feeling is a very good tool. In addition, from the technical support point of view, QT as a dual-licensed middleware, in the case of customer needs, can provide sufficient technical support.

Shijiangping also said, "As a technician, I personally think it is important to choose a good tool, but it is more important to develop a good product with tools." ”

As a developer Netizen said, the user is not really concerned about the underlying hardware, operating system, UI and so on, they need is: easy to use, easy to operate, can surf the internet, listening to music, watching movies, QQ, play games and more diverse application needs. and the rapid establishment of the application of ecological environment, as a matter of urgency, which at present, the progress of Meego is quite optimistic. The industry and developers will have to wait and see for further development in the future.