[mcot2]

I actually started to write a response to this post about how WebOS and this project seem totally different in terms of the companies involved and being open source from the start, but then I thought more about it...

This project doesn't really feel like mozilla is trying to compete with Android or iOS in terms of developing a traditional mobile operating system.

It almost feels like mozilla is trying to lay down the ground work for what a web based mobile device SHOULD be. The entire UI using web technologies, JavaScript API's for everything. Think about that for a second... What users think about as the "OS" (basically the home skin, application launcher, widgets, themes and UI controls) is just an infinitely hackable web project for any company to come along and build on top of. Gecko or Webkit + Linux under the hood and thats it.

[robot]

IMHO the underlying technology has no significance. People still write native iOS apps even though HTML5 is available. Nobody will say oh they used javascript and web for every thing I must use/develop for this phone.