OSDL Plans Linux Phone Drive

InfoWorld Nederland reports on a new initiative that aims to promote the use of the Linux operating system on cell phones. The Mobile Linux Initiative was launched by Open Source Development Labs Inc. (OSDL) to tackle technical challenges and generally support the adoption of Linux on handheld devices.

Ben Wood at Gartner said, "All of the Linux developments are a disparate set of projects. It's not like write once, run anywhere."

The article claims Linux is attractive for its capabilities as well as cost. "The OSes that manufacturers are using are starting to run out of horsepower," Wood said. He believed Linux wouldn't pose a threat to Symbian or Microsoft in the short term. Wood said. "This is just a stepping stone in the emergence of Linux as a potential platform for mobile phones. But it's still a very long way away."