While HP has made it known that they will continue to be in the PC business, they have been less vocal on the future of webOS. Ina Fried from AllThingsD posted an interesting look at some of HP’s options, but also offered the following gem:

One interesting option — one that has circulated within HP, though has yet to win favor — is to simply give away webOS and its developer tools to the community, allowing it to be an open source alternative for mobile (and potentially other) devices.

I wonder how this would work from a patent/litigation perspective. If HP were to maintain ownership and control of webOS—hence control what goes into the main branch—they could fend off potential lawsuits by filtering user submissions.