Intel Goes Open Source Crazy

From all indications, Intel is taking open source seriously. First it was the news that the Threading Building Blocks was going open source. Then on the heels of that announcement, Intel announced thatits Mobile Platform SDK 1.2 would be an open source project too.

The Mobile Platform SDK 1.2 provides a set of libraries and runtime components, along with an API that is common across supported Windows platforms and runtimes. In addition to being hosted on an Intel site, the SDK is also available on SourceForge.

Then there is the recently announced Mobile and Internet Linux Project, an open source project for mobile Linux development on Intel-based mobile devices. It focuses on projects such as Ubuntu's Mobile and Embedded Edition and Red Flag's MIDINUX, and serves as an incubator for prototyping new ideas and projects targeting devices such as the Intel-based Mobile Internet Device (MID) and other consumer electronic devices.

Power's your problem? Intel is covering that in an open source kind of way with PowerTOP, a tool that helps you determine what software that running on mobile systems (like laptops running Linux) is using the most power. By addressing power-hungry hotspots, you can save battery power. The tool lets you see estimated time left for battery power if you are running Linux on an Intel-based laptop running.

And don't forget drivers for Intel graphics controllers. Intel has open sourced drivers for its 965GM Express Chipset-based mobile graphics controller. These Linux drivers include support for 2D and 3D graphics features for the mobile version of Intel graphics architecture.

To be truthful, there's a lot more open source that Intel has been working on. This is just the most recent stuff. If you want to keep up with it, a good place to start is the Open Source Technology Center.

Posted by Jon Erickson at 09:18 AM  Permalink