Crafting a Linux distribution optimized for the mobile environment is no easy task. The hardware is vastly different from a typical desktop or even laptop computer. User expectations are different as is the way in which a user interacts with the device. Startup times are critical and it's important to optimize with battery life in mind. It was for some of these reasons and more that Intel first came with the idea of the Moblin concept.

In fact, Intel didn't really set out to build a distribution when it first started up the Moblin.org web site. The original goal was to provide tools to do Linux optimization for the Atom processor. Over time they started doing bits and pieces of various components within embedded Linux and last year released Moblin v1.

Today, Moblin's heading for v2, and on April 2, Intel made a big change in the stewardship of the project, announcing the Linux Foundation will host and support Moblin from here on.