Mer (software distribution)

Mer

OS family	Linux
Working state	Current
Marketing target	Mobile
Package manager	RPM Package Manager
Platforms	ARM and x86
Kernel type	Monolithic (Linux)
License	Open source
Official website	merproject.org

Mer is a Linux-based operating system intended for use on mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablet computers, and other forms of consumer electronics.

Mer was established originally to serve as an alternative to the Maemo operating system used by Nokia's N800 and N810 tablets (collectively known as the N8x0 devices), with particular emphasis on an Ubuntu-based version which aimed to port as many features from Maemo 5 to the devices. Later in 2011, after the collapse of the MeeGo project (which was intended to replace Maemo), the Mer project was re-purposed as a fork of MeeGo.

History

Its aim was initially to provide a completely free alternative to the Maemo operating system, which was able to run on Nokia Internet Tablets such as the N800 and N810 (collectively known as the N8x0 devices).

It was based on Ubuntu 9.04, and with the release of Maemo 5/Fremantle, a new goal emerged: "[To bring] as much of Fremantle as we can get on the N8x0."

Shift to MeeGo

Mer suspended development at release 0.17, since focus had switched to building MeeGo for the N800 and N810 devices. By then, MeeGo was available and supported by a much wider community.

Collapse of MeeGo

The development was silently resumed during the summer of 2011 by a handful of MeeGo developers(some of them previously active in the Mer project), after Nokia changed their strategy in February 2011. These developers were not satisfied with the way MeeGo had been governed behind closed doors especially after Nokia departed, and they were also concerned that MeeGo heavily depended on big companies which could stop supporting it, as was the case when Nokia abandoned MeeGo as part of their new strategy.

This was once again proven to be a problem after Intel, Samsung and the Linux Foundation announced they are going to create a new operating system called Tizen which will abandon most of the MeeGo legacy and especially application development APIs, focusing on HTML5 and using EFL instead of Qt for native applications.

Revival

After the Tizen project was announced, the revival of the Mer project was announced on the MeeGo mailing list, with the promise that it will be developed and governed completely in the open as a meritocracy, unlike MeeGo and Tizen. Also, it will be based on the MeeGo code base and tools, aiming to provide just the equivalent of the MeeGo core with no default UI. The APIs for 3rd party application development are included, meaning that Qt, EFL and HTML5 would be all supported on the platform, and maybe even others if widely requested.

The project quickly started to gain traction among many open source developers who were previously involved in MeeGo, and it started being used by former MeeGo projects, such as the former MeeGo reference handset UX, now rebased on top of Mer and called Nemo Mobile, and a couple of projects targeting tablet UXes such as Cordia (a reimplementation of the Maemo 5 Hildon UX) and Plasma Active emerged on top of Mer. Equivalent Mer-based project of the former MeeGo IVI and Smart TV UXes are not yet known to exist.

One aim of the Mer community is to create, in a solid way, what previously was unable to be done with MeeGo; Mer is to become what MeeGo was expected to be but has not become.

Architecture

For various reasons, Mer just provides the equivalent of the MeeGo core. The former Meego UXes and hardware adaptation are to be done by various other projects and by hardware manufacturers, which will be able to build their products on top of the Mer core.

Supported hardware

Mer supports the Intel x86 and ARM architecture and there is work in progress in getting it work on MIPS architecture as well.

There are Mer-based builds available for various devices, including Raspberry Pi, Beagleboard, Nokia N900, Nokia N950, Nokia N9 and for various Intel Atom-based tablets. These also include hardware adaptation packages and various UXes running on top of Mer as well, provided by different projects. They can be flashed on the device and might work in dual-boot mode with the original firmware.

Products based on Mer

In January 2012 a tablet device, eventually known as 'Vivaldi', was announced. Based on an ARM CPU, it would have a 7" multitouch display, run the Plasma Active user interface on top of Mer, and have a target price of about €200. The project encountered some problems when its hardware partner in China completely changed the internal components and was reluctant to release the kernel source for the new hardware. As of early July 2012, the Vivaldi had been set back, but a solution was "in the pipes", according to Plasma developer Aaron Seigo.

In July 2012 Jolla Mobile, a Finnish company consisting of former Nokia employees involved in MeeGo development, announced their work on a smartphone that would run a Mer-based Operating System.