Hello. My suggestion here goes to create a barebones OS for the n900.

I think this could be created by customizing at max the official Maemo 5 release, and stripping out EVERYTHING, but the essential, like:

• kernel (of course),
• drivers,
• minimal set of standard libraries,
• CLI (command line interface),
• and utilities like wget and dpkg.

And starting from there, the users could customize the OS so they can use the apps they want.

What do you think??

Hmm, isn't that exactly what Mer is about?

@pycage,

I think @tokafondo means still using the Nokia-Maemo kernel and the Nokia drivers. Not exactly Mer

@Tokafondo,

You could start by apt-get purge'ing everything that doesn't look vital to you. Your N900 will most likely not manage to reboot after that, so you'll have to tweak the init.d scripts.

In any case, but you want is doable (look for "recovery console" in this forum).

The idea comes three years too late, if it's not meant only as for educational purposes. :P Better to support the Mer project nowadays.

OK, but the Mer project seems to be targeted to OEMs, so they can customize the core OS with their own interfaces.

It seems to me some kind of alternative to Android...

The target of my proposal is, to get naked Maemo 5 'as is', and install only the needed apps, including alternate ones.

I would uninstall tracker, because there are image viewers and media players based on folders.

MicroB does a good work, but there are other browsers that do the job.

Nokia Maps are obsolete and slow to update...

I know that the most important feature will be lost: the integration of all components, but for many people will be better to have a fast and responsive system with updated open apps.

Anyway, it's my point of view...

I will try this in the next-to-be complete (eMMC and rootfs) reflashing, thanks to the mess made by 720p recording.

I already check Nemo, one of the projects using Mer, but as I haven't found a feature list, I don't know if it worths the try.

you want to make Windows-XP out of Windows-7... good thought...
if you cant increase the ram & processor just get rid of the junk to get a faster system...
do consider about limiting Multitasking eg.. allotting 150 mb ram to app having focus.. and leaving the rest to all others etc..

yes it will be good that we can customize Maemo whatever way we like. as i have created my own Symbian v5 moded firmware for my 5800. its really a fun thing. own apps in it, ringtones, modifying settings as we like. i will help.

The thing is, that we're running real GNU/Linux distribution, so - fortunatelly - unlike symbian, user doesn't need to 'cook' own firmware, to get rid of unneeded things. Generally, if You don't like some program inside Maemo, You can just apt-get purge it. That's, probably, why, for so many years, no one feel urgent need to create 'barebone' version, instead, focusing on more creative tasks.

Anyway, it's joy of FOSS - if You really feel you could use it, just create and publish - maybe others will benefit from it to? Still, personally, I don't see any reason to be interested (of course it doesn't mean that we can;t discuss rationale etc).

/Estel

One other problem is that even the "barebones" OS will have non-open Nokia blobs in it, unless you don't consider battery charging and GSM functions (among others) important. I personally would.

If you're looking for something that low level, may I suggest you look at the OpenMoko project and it's offshoots. They kind of started out with (and never really got far past) the barebones system. If you want a FreeRunner on the cheep, I may be happy to part with mine if you're really going to use/tinker with it.

Wow, I completely agree!!!
Getting rid of tracker and assisted software would be great

I don't know about making it bare bone that's way to extreme for me lol

PS: microb, is still the best mobile browser in the universe!!