An IIT Madras-incubated startup has developed a mobile operating system to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s objective of making India a “Atmanirbhar” with the help of JandK Operations Private Limited.
BharOS or Bharat OS is a new indigenous operating system that was recently developed by one of the entrepreneurs from IIT-Madras’ incubators. For India’s 100 million smartphone users, who are limited to using the American-owned and -operated Android and iOS operating systems, BharOS promises to offer a more safe and private mobile operating system.
What is BharOS
BharOS is an operating system built on the Linux kernel and is intended to be strong and secure. It is created by JandK Operations Private Limited (JandKops), founded at IIT Madras. “Any Android operating system is a fork of original Linux distribution. We have used some early versions of Linux — it’s basically a derivative of the Linux kernel. However, a lot of customisation including security protocols, such as root of trust and chain of trust modifications have been done to create BharOS,” Director of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, V Kamakoti, spoke with Money Control.
Specifications of BharOS operating system
According to BharOS’s creators, this system will give customers more freedom to select or develop apps in accordance with their demands. Developers have promised that this programme will give consumers more privacy and security.
The storage space on an Android phone is already taken up by several running apps. However, because this software adheres to the No Default Apps (NDA) principle, you will have more space available in this system. Users will instantly receive NOTA (Native Over The Air) updates, just like on Android smartphones. They are not required to start the automatic updating procedure.
How to install BharOS?
There are currently no specifics on how anyone can install BharOS. Even the most seasoned technology enthusiasts hesitate to remove an operating system from a mobile device and replace it with a new one since it is such a complicated procedure.
Therefore, it is highly likely that BharOS will only be released for new and forthcoming devices, and possibly not for existing ones. Moreover, not all users now have access to this operating system. BharOS can only be used by organisations with rigorous or robust security measures.
