Mer (software distribution)

Mer was a free and open-source software distribution, targeted at hardware vendors to serve as a middleware for Linux kernel-based mobile-oriented operating systems. It is a fork of MeeGo. Some goals of the project are: Openly developed with transparency built into the fabric of the project Provide a mobile device oriented architecture Primary customers are mobile device vendors, not end-users. Have structure, processes and tools to make life easy for device manufacturers Support innovation in the mobile OS space Inclusive of projects and technologies (e.g. MeeGo, Tizen, Qt, Enlightenment Foundation Libraries (EFL), HTML5) Governed as a meritocracy Run as a non profit through donations Mer is not an operating system; it is aimed to be one component of an operating system based on the Linux kernel. Mer is a part of the operating system above the Linux kernel and below the graphical user interface (GUI). Mer just provides the equivalent of the MeeGo core. The former MeeGo user interfaces 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. There is support for systemd, Wayland, Hybris, and other current FOSS software. Zephyr is an attempt at creating a stack for use by other projects to be exploring lightweight, high-performance, next-generation UIs based on Mer, Qt5, QML Compositor and Wayland. Weston 1.3, which was released on 11 October 2013, supports libhybris, making it possible to use Android device drivers with Wayland. Mer can be compiled for a number of instruction sets such as x86, ARM or MIPS. 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, provided by different projects. They can be flashed on the device and might work in dual-boot mode with the original firmware.