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== Background ==
[[Mer]] is a new operating system for small, mobile touch-screen devices.

It is Linux based and layers the best open-source elements of Nokia's Maemo platform over a modern Ubuntu base.

The goals of Mer include:
* Integrate the best solutions for a wide variety of small form-factor devices
* Encourage wider access to device capabilities through the Vendor Social Contract
* Demonstrably provide an easy route to market for vendors
* Dramatically reduce costs to vendors of supporting EOL hardware
* Focus, harness and support community contributions to the platform
* Encourage and ease migration of existing applications
* Support experimentation, innovation and development

Mer runs on : 770, N800, N810, FreeRunner, SmartQ5, SmartQ7, Beagleboard, and to some degree on Zaurus, Loox; we'd like to support other devices too... talk to us.

== Mission ==
Mer platform development will be done in the open, with public SCM repository, bugtrackers, and Wiki-based blueprint discussion.

We should stop seeing the tablets as strictly under-powered embedded systems, and see them for what they really are: powerful, power-efficient, economical handheld computers.

==Frequently Asked Questions==
* What is Mer?
You did read the bit above? Oh, OK... from a user's point of view Mer aims to be a replacement for Maemo/Diablo.... but better! Note that we don't think it's there yet :)

* Does Mer replace Diablo/OS2008 ?
Well...<br>
Nokia won't be upgrading 2008 anymore.<br>
We're talking to see if there could be an official handover (SSU) to 'community support' but nothing concrete yet.<br>
So in that sense, Mer will be one option to updating your tablet if you want something that is either broken, or not in, OS2008.

* What can I do with it?
Ideally you could install and run any app that runs on Ubuntu or Maemo extras.
Of course some apps just need too much resource, or need a mouse or are closed; but most apps will run.

You can't do that in Maemo/Diablo.

* Does it run inside Diablo?
No. Mer runs instead of Diablo - but don't panic, you can dual boot from one to the other; so if Mer isn't good enough just yet you can switch back to Diablo. Eventually we hope you won't need Diablo at all :)

* Can I install it on an internal/external SD card? (how big?)
Yes! It needs about 1Gb of space. The simplest thing is to use an empty 2Gb card.

* How do I install it?
Go to the [[Mer/Documentation/Installation|installation page]]

* What were the initial motivations for this project?
See [[Maemo Reconstructed]] for the initial proposal that lead to the Mer project.

== Status ==
Mer is new and [[Mer/Releases|constantly developing]] so the [[Mer/Status|status]] of support for hardware and applications is steadily improving.

Also check the [[Mer/Documentation|documentation]] page for more information.

== History ==
Mer has evolved from discussion around [[Maemo_Reconstructed|reconstructing Maemo]] and a desire to make a proof of concept system of these thoughts. The M-R PoC developed into Mer after it was realised that it was - indeed - a viable environment for both developers and end-users. On Thursday 2th May 2009 [[Mer/Ubuntu MID|Ubuntu MID]] decided to use Mer as their upstream.

== Events ==

The Mer team meets regularly at [[../Events | events]] to present and talk about Mer.
== Screenshots ==

Some from 0.16 [[Mer/Documentation/Screenshots|here]] and 0.15 [[Mer/Releases/0.15#Screenshots|here]].

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Editing Mer/About

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 The goals of Mer include:
 * Integrate the best solutions for a wide variety of small form-factor devices
-* Encourage wider access to device capabilities through the [[Mer/Documentation/Vendor Social Contract|Vendor Social Contract]]
+* Encourage wider access to device capabilities through the Vendor Social Contract
 * Demonstrably provide an easy route to market for vendors
 * Dramatically reduce costs to vendors of supporting EOL hardware