Palm has unveiled its plans for the WebOS developer program, which is scheduled to officially launch in December. It will enable third-party developers to broadly distribute their own software applications for Palm's Linux-based mobile platform.

Palm's WebOS application platform takes advantage of standards-based Web technologies, making it possible for developers to build complete applications with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Underlying device functionality is exposed through specialized JavaScript APIs and HTML 5 features are used to support graphics programming and video capabilities. This model lowers the barrier to entry and allows Web developers to transfer their existing skills to the WebOS platform.

Palm has a major opportunity to attract a lot of talented Web developers to its mobile platform, but will only succeed in doing so if the WebOS developer program is easy to navigate and painless for participants. It's important for Palm to manage the developer program with a high level of transparency and provide clarity about the standards of its application approval process at an early stage. The company's announcement on Tuesday is a positive step in the right direction.

Palm faced some tough questions last month when well-known developer Jamie Zawinski wrote a blog entry criticizing the company's developer pilot program. He described the App Catalog submission process as a "Kafka-esque nightmare" and expressed frustration with Palm's mixed messages about the admissibility of open source software in the App Catalog. Zawinski also pointed out that the $99-per-year fee that third-party WebOS developers have to pay in order to make their software available to end users is going to make it very difficult for open source software developers to embrace the platform.

Despite this nasty start, Palm is getting the developer program back on track and putting it on the right course. In a major policy turn-around, Palm has revealed that developers will be allowed to distribute WebOS applications on the Internet without having to use the App Catalog. Software that is made available in this manner will not have to undergo Palm's application review process. Developers will simply submit their software to an automated system that generates a special link which users can click to install the program.

The App Catalog will still be available, however, for developers who want to make their software available through a more direct distribution channel that is tightly integrated with the platform. Software that is distributed through the App Catalog will still have to undergo a review process. Developers will receive 70 percent of the revenue generated from sales of their applications through the App Catalog. Developers will have to pay $50 for each application that they submit.

Developers will still have to pay $99 per year to participate in the WebOS developer program. This will be required regardless of whether the developer makes software available through the App Catalog or through other channels. As a gesture in "appreciation of what the open source movement has contributed to the web," Palm says that it will waive the fee for developers who are making open source software available for WebOS.

Dion Almaer and Ben Galbraith, well-known and highly respected figures in the Web development community, were recently hired by Palm to lead the company's developer relations team. Almaer and Galbraith are the cofounders of Ajaxian, a popular blog about emerging trends and technologies in Web development. Prior to joining Palm, they worked for Mozilla Labs where they launched the Bespin project. They bring much-needed expertise to Palm and will hopefully be able to teach the company how to build a sustainable community around its platform.

In a blog entry posted Monday, Almaer describes his vision for the future of mobile platforms and discusses some of Palm's plans for the WebOS developer program.

"Many of us see in the web the potential to be The Platform that we can use across all of these emerging devices to bring sanity to application development. Imagine a world where you can develop Web applications that you can deploy to a plethora of devices and form factors. We have a real opportunity to make this world a reality, and it will take the entire Web community to make this happen," he wrote. "We announced tonight that we've decided to free developers to release and market their applications via the web."

Palm is still committed to making building a top-notch marketplace for developers who want to use the App Catalog as a delivery channel, he says, but he's convinced that the Web is ultimately the future of software deployment.

"We actually want the web to win for distribution. We want to see people innovate in marketing their applications themselves and solving the app discovery problem," he wrote.

The exact nature of the alternate Web distribution model isn't entirely clear yet. The use of special links that are provided by Palm makes it sound like the company isn't going to completely relinquish its role as gatekeeper, but it's definitely an improvement. Allowing open source developers to avoid the $99 annual fee is also a very positive move and one that could potentially help enrich the WebOS third-party software ecosystem.