Linux developers intend to make the open source operating system more reliable for mobile devices, by optimizing it to work on less powerful devices.

The smart and small devices are becoming much more powerfull and available for the piblic. Linux had to became a part of this industry so, the Open Source Development Labs’ Mobile Linux Initiative will improve Linux for the these devices. It’s also planned to encourage the development of new mobile applications, to outline requirements for different cell phone uses and to host related open-source development projects.

“There was a tremendous price-performance gain when people transitioned to Linux for the telecom equipment manufacturers. Now people are looking for that in the mobile area,” OSDL Chief Executive Stuart Cohen said.

it is expected that 2.8 billion mobile phones will be sold in 2009, so this kind o annonucement (of joining this business) are not a surprise anymore. Linux will compete with Microsoft and Symbian’s products for high-end phones and several other, often custom-written, operating systems for the mass market.

Companies like Intel, MontaVista Software, Wind River Systems and PalmSource are envolved in this project, and they will meet today in Beijing the home of phone researches.

MontaVista, already offers a version of the Linux OS for mobile phones, and it’s used in several handsets from Motorola. Wind River and PalmSource are relatively recent new in this domain.

Intel has been a major promotor for Linux for years, and there are a lot of Linux systems based on its chips. Unfortunatelly Intel doesn’t have a dominant present in the mobile market as it has in desktops and servers. There are strong competitors like Texas Instruments and ARM Holdings.

Linus Torvalds, the maintainer of the Linux kernel, is not so happy about the idea of bringing embedded features to the kernel.