To summarise this year is really easy, it's MeeGo. In many ways MeeGo is the next step on a pathway of evolution of embedded software. To understand the history and how things have been evolved we have to look back few years. The year 2002, when we started to create things on embedded Linux, or actually embedded OSS in broader perspective, embedded and Linux was not so common, and even less nicely received. You had few companies, e.g. Sharp & Zaurus, but one can say industry was non-existent. This continued with multiple nice tries to change the marketplace with Montavista and Nokia's Maemo, to name a couple. Then eventually came along Android and all the sudden Open Source was approved by many manufacturers.
The big thing that Android made happen was general awareness, and approval of OSS in embedded. Android being OSS, or at least one has access for it's source code, introduced the OSS way of working to a larger audience. This has opened up the discussions about finer features of OSS development, such as open roadmaps, benefits of working upstream, and gaining a control for future releases, things missing from Android.
Now, after meeting a multitude of companies interested in creating devices built on OSS, within the year, how is MeeGo fitting in? Actually it's a natural continuation. MeeGo is extending the capabilities that so many companies are now utilising when making Android devices. MeeGo is really open in a genuine way, you can see the roadmap, you can contribute fixes, virtually all work is happening in OSS community upstream projects, and most important of all, you can gain the control. In many ways MeeGo is the thing that we have all been waiting to happen the last ten years.
This year could be summarised as "building the base", getting the whole software stack in place for multiple different processor architectures, including the most important one i.e. ARM architecture. Also excellent progress made on Qt side, by introducing greater that great QML, and new tools, and better support for faster graphics.
So what is happening next year? Having the basics in shape, we are now ready to rock the market with a great variety of devices, from IVI to notebooks, and anything between. Based on the general interest we will have a tremendously interesting year of MeeGo 2011. Taking the market to the next phase, looking forward for 2011, the year of the MeeGo.
