Sure, but how does mothballing WebOS make them any money?

I wonder how many patents HP has related to webos that would complicate any open source initiative, or sale.

You may have hit on how they could go about making money even after they open source webOS. "Here is the source. Do what you will; if you make money, expect to pay royalties under the following terms". If none of the 'old guard' licenses work for them, they could tailor a new license to their purpose.

I don't think that such an arrangement is in HP's character; however, letting the investment die seems foolish in any case.

That ship has already sailed.

Possibly, it would create a bit of goodwill from developers. Goodwill is good for the bottom line.

It probably makes them more money than the alternative -- which is abandoning it or making it a tiny target that very few developers will care about.

It's all about developers and the ecosystem. Ballmer was right about this. Apple nailed it. Facebook nailed it in the past. Everyone who attracted developers grew and got a lot of publicity and new stuff they never dreamed about.

HP could lead the development of WebOS and that would be a great opportunity for them. Even if it costs them $10mil a year to maintain, it would give them OPPORTUNITIES that right now they are throwing away. Open source tends to do that.

Either way, I can't imagine developers are ever going to jump into an HP ecosystem project again.