# webOS

20 Hacker News commenters recommended webOS and 11 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Praised as ahead of its time and pleasant to use; critics say HP mismanaged it and security is weak.

## Why people recommend it

- Users loved it, fans miss it (5 comments): "the screenshots I've seen of webOS makes me long for a revival" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48528825)) "people were pretty happy with webos/hp touchpad" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46105866)) "WebOS was pretty cool (Palm)." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49759821))
- Ahead of its time (5 comments): "I also feel webOS was a lost opportunity too - in some ways it was just too ambitious for the hardware of its time." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47916434)) "Palm WebOS, MeeGo, there were various efforts that were better than Android and even iOS in a lot of ways" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48896361)) "webOS and Firefox OS was at least 20 years ahead of its time." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48528787))
- Pleasant, gets tasks done quickly (3 comments): "it was about getting your digital must haves done and out of the way with just a couple key presses" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49763390)) "it was supported by default and was amazing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46322707)) "webOS is pretty decent to use" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49001648))
- Homebrew and rooting possible (2 comments): "it had Preware homebrew that didn't require exploits to run, it was supported by default and was amazing" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46323008)) "WebOS itself is actually pretty neat once you get root on the device." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49614287))

## What people warn about

- Product line killed, mismanaged by HP (4 comments): "My impression just from that training is that WebOs was extremely mismanaged." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46551975)) "They killed the product line almost immediately after release." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46547656)) "they killed that entire product line without warning" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46545949))
- Poor security, remotely exploitable (2 comments): "But vulnerabilities that can be remotely exploited without user interaction (CVSS grade 9-10)?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49606002)) "The security posture of webOS is absolutely terrible" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49605937))
- Little custom app development (2 comments): "It'll be difficult. It's webos of which there's very little custom development." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49601833)) "WebOS needed WASM and a lot more to be successful" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47916548))
- Software experience feels poor (2 comments): "there software leaves much to desire" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50212622)) "Garbage computer experience." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50073438))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [AsteroidOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/asteroidos-2-0.md): 19 recommend
- [Minix](https://hackerapproved.com/p/minix.md): 15 recommend
- [Inferno operating system](https://hackerapproved.com/p/inferno.md): 12 recommend
- [Visopsys](https://hackerapproved.com/p/visopsys.md): 9 recommend
- [DragonFly BSD](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dragonflybsd.md): 7 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "webOS", https://hackerapproved.com/p/webos/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).