As mobile phones continue their progress toward becoming a utility, companies are scrambling to compete in a marketplace threatened by open source initiatives like Google Android. Looking to broaden scope, Nokia is buying its way into the open source and Linux communities with a major acquisition.

Perhaps best known for its Qt development platform, Trolltech also develops application platforms for portable devices that run Linux, like mobile phones and mp3 players. Looking to capitalize on synergies between them, Nokia and Trolltech just announced “that Nokia will make a public voluntary tender offer to acquire Trolltech”.

“Trolltech is a recognized software provider with world-class software development platforms and frameworks. In addition to the key software assets, its talented team will play an important role in accelerating the implementation of Nokia’s software strategy.”

Though Trolltech has earned a strong reputation for upholding open source values, it’s receiving criticism for “selling out” to a corporate lobbyist. Jochen Hoff comments on the Trolltech’s site, “Nokia isn’t a friend of freedom, it is a company who puts its own interests ahead of the interests of all other humans. If they tell us today, they want to give a better growing for QT in the mass volume markets, this is only another way to tell us, they want to earn the money for themselves.”

Recognizing it may be in hot water, Trolltech issued an open letter to the open source community, “we will continue to actively develop Qt and Qtopia. We also want to underline that we will continue to support the open source community by continuing to release these technologies under the GPL.”

Despite that reassurance, there may be an inherent conflict of interest when a traditional company like Nokia gains ownership of an organization that built its success on the backs of open source developers.

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Entry was posted on Monday, January 28th, 2008 at 5:45 pm under Cell phones, Linux, Open source.

Read more entries by Matt Jansen.
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