BMW: Soon to Be Free as in Speech (But Not Beer)

by Kristin Shoemaker - Oct. 23, 2008Comments (0)

BMW announced this week at the Convergence 2008 automotive electronics conference that it is in search of an open source partner in developing a car computing platform.

Some speculate that an agreement between BMW and Mercedes-Benz that determines some hardware purchasing decisions is a major influence in BMW's preference for an open source system. Another factor BMW credits is how fast technology changes, and how open platforms are able to keep pace.

This is a very different, progressive approach in the automotive industry, and it seems that BMW isn't the only car manufacturer mulling over the open source possibilities. General Motors sees itself facing the open source versus proprietary information/entertainment platform decision sometime within the next year. A number of other automakers have expressed interest in open platforms.

The time seems right, as more energy and effort is devoted to mobile Linux platforms and embedded systems, for "older" industries to seriously look at the opportunities for growth open systems can provide. Perhaps automotive manufacturers will discover the open exchange of ideas in this arena frees them to develop and innovate with the hardware they know best.


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