As LG’s WebOS-based Smart TV earns a rave review, Linux.com examines how LG quickly merged its TV platform into WebOS with a little help from Yocto.
When Korean consumer electronics giant LG purchased HP’s mobile Linux WebOS operating system in Feb. 2013 with vague plans to incorporate it in future smart TV designs, it seemed more like a death knell for the well battered distribution than a rebirth. After all, so-called smart TV platforms, such as LG’s own Linux-based Netcast, were minimalist affairs, and there didn’t seem to be much hope for innovative open source development on such a platform. Yet, not only has WebOS emerged as a potent contender for Internet TV, but LG has begun to release portions of the platform as open source.