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11/26/2018, 11:02 AM
#1
As technology develops, we are seeing further problems with legacy webOS. Patches used to be sufficient for a minor bug, missing function or outdated app. But now, we need new browsers to support modern websites, new SSL for greater certificate encryption and now it seems TLS problems are preventing some sites from loading at all.
It maybe that modularity will allow us to modify ever larger and fundamental parts of the system, but Palm modified both the Linux kernel and Webkit to create webOS, so drop in replacements likely aren't possible (some of the code is also closed-source). So we need the few people still here who know how the system works even to consider making the changes to the 'upstream' components.
Porting LuneOS has been suggested, but aside from the TouchPad, it's unlikely that the legacy phones will have enough memory.
With the release of webOS OSE, does another possibility arise? It's a development of legacy webOS. It's fully open-source. It's possible that it retains much of the 'DNA' of the original. Is it likely that it remains similar enough to be used without huge modifications?
The dream: Install core webOS OSE and add the original UI on top! Instant modern OS on your old hardware.
The possible nightmare: OSE has changed so much, that it's completely incompatible with the UI, it's also become too big for phone memory sizes, a libhybris-type solution would be needed for the old drivers.
Of course, even if this idea is viable, it will likely require significant effort to make it work and the talent pool here is not large. On the other hand, if we could get a 'pure' webOS solution running on the old devices, we could not only see greater compatibility with LuneOS, but benefit from development work on that project. We might even see new releases of webOS rather than life-saving patches.
That's the pitch! Now shoot it down in flames!
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Originally Posted by Chairman Honeycrisp
