Symbian may be the closest competitor to Google’s Open Handset Alliance and not surprisingly the head of Symbian had nothing flattering to say about this latest open source mobile handset initiative.

 

Symbian’s CEO Nigel Clifford said, There's 10, 15, 20, maybe 25 different Linux platforms out there. It sometimes appears that Linux is fragmenting faster than it unifies." He continued, “Symbian recognizes Google's commitment to ‘openness’ and sees that as a good thing, but I probably would say there is no such thing as free software."

 

The problem for Clifford and company is the fact that many companies already working with Symbian have become part of the OHA. What this means for Symbian long term is unknown but the competition has not put a dent in Clifford’s resolve as he said, “We're the market leader, and we aim to remain the market leader."

 

For more, check out this well-written piece from InfoWorld.