Russia Eyes Linux-Based Smartphone OS for Mobile Market

Linux—or a form of it, at least—and other open source programs soon could be playing a bigger role in the mobile and tablet market in Russia. And it has concerns over spying by the NSA to thank.

As the Register reports, the Russian government is developing a customized operating system for mobile devices that apparently will be based on SailfishOS. The effort comes on the heels of other recent moves by Russian authorities that distance the Russian mobile market from United States companies, including promises to build ARM chips inside Russia and banning iPhones.

SailFishOS is based on Linux and other major open source projects, including Mer and the Wayland display server, although some parts of the platform are proprietary.

Those open source projects are international endeavors, which means that replacing iOS devices with ones that run SailFishOS won’t excise all foreign software from Russia. But it will make doing business in Russia’s part of the world more difficult for Apple and other U.S. companies.

The news also reflects the intrinsic advantage that Linux and other open source platforms enjoy simply by virtue of not having strong ties to a particular country. Few businesses large enough to operate globally can claim to be truly independent in terms of political influences and liabilities, which will invariably make some users suspicious. In contrast, it’s hard to accuse a decentralized, global development effort like the one behind the Linux kernel of having political motives that benefit a particular national community.