Intel's Linux-based Moblin platform, which is designed to run on Atom-based netbook devices, has gained the backing of numerous Linux distributors. Novell jumped on the Moblin bandwagon last year and has participated in the development effort. In an announcement on Thursday, Novell revealed that it has signed an agreement with Intel and plans to boost its involvement with the project.

In an effort to make the project more inclusive and transparent, Intel recently invited the Linux Foundation to host ongoing Moblin development. Novell was a vocal supporter of this move and expressed enthusiasm for Moblin and the project's potential capacity to accelerate the advancement of Linux in the mobile space. As part of the company's new agreement with Intel, Novell has committed to build its own Moblin-based distro to offer to hardware makers.

Novell will also establish its own Linux labs in Taiwan to collaborate with a Moblin development facility that Intel launched in the country last year as part of a partnership with Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs. Intel is building a very strong presence in Taiwan, where the company is investing in both Moblin development and a major WiMAX rollout.

"We are extending our involvement with Moblin because we believe that it provides a richer mobile Internet experience," said Ron Hovsepian, Novell president and CEO. "The emergence of such mobile computing platforms as netbooks presents a significant growth opportunity. We believe that Moblin-based Novell software on Intel-based platforms will offer OEMs and ODMs exceptional solutions for delivering a full Internet experience on such devices."

Novell is no stranger to the netbook market. Its SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED) distribution ships on some MSI Wind netbooks. The SLED-based Wind devices were not well-received by consumers and experienced a high return rate as a result of serious configuration problems.

We discussed this issue with Novell last year when we explored the challenges and opportunities for Linux in the netbook market. We concluded that one of the key difficulties faced by Linux in the netbook space is that hardware vendors are largely unaccustomed to handling Linux integration issues.

Moblin could help Linux overcome that hurdle because it will provide a preintegrated stack that is designed specifically for netbook environments and will require hardware makers to perform significantly less tailoring and customization in order to deliver a top-notch user experience. Early releases of Moblin show promise, and Intel has some very ambitious plans for the platform.

Novell's commitment to Moblin is yet another sign of the platform's growing relevance within the Linux community. Intel's effort to make Moblin the cornerstone of mobile Linux development is clearly gaining some traction.