Symbian is Open Source

Symbian is Open Source

One of the goals of the Symbian Foundation was to make the source code for the entire Symbian platform available to everyone, free of charge. On February 4, 2010, 4 months ahead of schedule, our goal became reality. View the full press release or our blog for more information.

What does this mean for me as a consumer?

It means fantastic, innovative, cutting-edge Symbian devices. Developers, designers and consumers worldwide can now contribute their creative skills and ideas to create new features that will revolutionize mobile and keep Symbian, the world’s most popular smartphone platform, at the forefront of the market. See our most recent devices!

What does this mean for me as a business?

Releasing the entire Symbian platform under the Eclipse Public License (EPL) will encourage new contributors and accelerate the pace of innovation. This is great news for businesses building products and services on Symbian.

What does this mean for me as a member?

Although you no longer need to be a member to access the source and contribute code to the platform, you still need to be a member to become a package owner, to sit on one of the four Technology Councils or to be nominated for a seat on the Board of Directors. If it's important for your company roadmap that you have this kind of influence on the Symbian platform you will want to be a member.

As a Symbian member you also have access to a range of business development benefits, such as our introductions service, our free regional networking events for learning about the global markets for your services and products, qualified sales leads through our professional services pages, a listing in our members’ directory, an editable company profile page on our website, and much more. A detailed listing of member benefits -- which we are always expanding -- can be found here.

What does this mean for me as a developer?

Come to developer.symbian.org and see for yourself! We have everything that you need as a Symbian developer. Besides full access to the code itself (to download or browse online) you'll find product and application development kits and tools. We can help you create, edit, build, debug, test and install your software. We provide examples, books, a full reference library and an ever-expanding collection of documentation from architects, designers, developers, integrators, testers, academics and users.

We also have all the information and tools that you need to become a Symbian contributor. Our forum, our wiki, our bug tracker, our ideas website and our blogs are open for you to ask questions, comment, share your knowledge and experience, offer your services, discuss your problems and ideas, and influence the platform's direction and evolution.

The Future of Mobile is Open. It’s right here.