HP kick off the open sourcing of webOS

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HP have announced that they have started the process of open sourcing webOS by releasing the Enyo application framework. The initial open source release includes Enyo 1.0 and Enyo 2.0 which will work with IE9, Chrome, Firefox and Safari. Future releases will include WebKit, UI widgets and a new kernel based on standard Linux. Switching to a standard Linux kernel means that webOS should run on non-HP hardware.

More details on the HP Palm blog and the real technical details on enyojs.com where you can also download Enyo 2

Enyo is an open source object-oriented JavaScript framework emphasizing encapsulation and modularity. Enyo contains everything you need to create a fast, scalable mobile or web application:

Built from the ground-up for mobile first

- Enyo powers webOS, and was designed from the beginning to be fast and work great on mobile devices

Now available for desktop and cross-browser development

- Enyo 2.0 now runs across mobile environments and desktop browsers including Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer

Highly customizable and extensible

- Enyo core can be expanded with modules, UI widgets, and more

Lightweight and fast

- Enyo 2.0 core is about 13KB gzipped, and built for fast application rendering and performance

Simple, self-contained, and easy to digest

- Build increasingly complex functionality starting with simple, reusable components

Built to scale

- Enyo was created on the principles needed to build vast, complex mobile and web applications

Open Source

- Enyo is available under the Apache License, Version 2.0.

Our first contribution is Enyo, our lightweight, cross-platform framework aimed at mobile devices and web browsers.

This initial open source release includes Enyo 1.0, which allows current developers of Enyo apps for webOS devices to distribute their apps to other platforms. While this release is not intended to be expanded any further, there is considerable utility for our current developer base in releasing it.

Today’s release also includes the core of Enyo 2.0, which will be the foundation for Enyo going forward. It expands Enyo’s “write once, run anywhere” capability to even more platforms, from mobile devices to desktop web browsers. It works on many of the most popular web browsers, including Chrome, IE 9, Firefox, and Safari.

While 2.0 does not yet include any UI widgets, the core will support a wide variety of libraries and add-ons. A UI widget set for 2.0 will be released in the near future.

Upcoming releases include our distribution of WebKit, which will support not only HTML5, but also Silverlight and Flash through the use of plug-ins. It will enable the rendering of webpages to HTML Canvas and 3-D textures, and will support a wide range of application interfaces, including multi-touch.

We will also release a new kernel based on the Linux Foundation’s standard kernel. As we continue through the roadmap, you will see enhanced integration with JavaScript through register callbacks and custom multi-process architecture for security, load balancing, and recovery availability.

Look for us to introduce LevelDB to replace our prior database.

Along the way, we will also share our tool sets, and we expect that many of you will want to share yours as well.

In closing, I want to thank the great engineers who have worked with me on creating the open webOS roadmap and let you all know that we look forward to collaborating with the community. As my friend Eric Raymond stated as I embarked on the open source adventure, “It takes a village to create a complete solution.”