Jolla Ltd., the Finnish mobile company and developer of open mobile operating system Sailfish OS today announced that Sailfish OS has been officially accepted as the only mobile OS in Russia to be used in governmental and government controlled corporations’ upcoming mobile device projects. Jolla has also started discussions in China and South Africa about building local mobile OS ecosystems for the countries.
Good news for the company of course, but can someone from Russia shed some light on just how impactful this is? If you take the announcement at face value, it’d mean that starting from today, every new phone issued to a government employee in Russia will run Sailfish, but for some reason, that just seems implausible. What does it really mean?
Remember how is IBM still haunted by its past…
Not a good sign for a company to be connected to such a regime.
Its a desperate rapidly dying company, its in times like these that companies jettison any morals they pretended to have.
For how long has Jolla been a desperately dying company?
Ask the customers who never got their tablets, for starters.
Sometime Between this post:
https://blog.jolla.com/pre-orders-jolla-tablet-now-open/
And this
https://blog.jolla.com/jolla-tablet-important-news-helm/
So approximately sept, 2015
Please set your anti-Russian attitude.
What is wrong with collaborating with Russia?
I did watch the Rambo movies, and many other Hollywood propaganda films that made the Russians as the most bad guys on the planet.
Seriously, what’s wrong with Russia? (in addition to the so called aggression towards Ukraine).
> What does it really mean?
russian government sources regularly say things that are not true. so while this could come true, it reasonably could not too, which means the statement has almost no meaning
most governments sources regularly say things that are not true. so while this could come true, it reasonably could not too, which means the statement has almost no meaning
There, fixed it for you.
No. Please stop normalizing governments like Russia.
What force You to think that Russian government somehow different than, for example, German or Spanish?
Well Germany didn’t invade Denmark and then claim their soldiers were just on vacation. Spain do not sponsor large scale hacking & industrial espionage.
For example.
Meanwhile, the Russian government has been described as ‘disingenuous’ in negotiating tactics” by the director of the CIA I.e. deliberately misleading & lying during international negotiations.
Edited 2016-11-30 12:31 UTC
Do you really want to quote a CIA director to foster your current arguments ? The same organization that promoted covert operation of torture on other countries should be used as trustful source of information on international affairs ? Not without a very, very deep unbiased checking. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
Vanders,
Those are apt words for many governments around the world. Heck. the CIA itself has been known to use highly unethical practices.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spying_on_United_Nations_leaders_by_Un…
And as a country, we’re still at it.
http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-spied-on-netanyahu-for-info-on-anti…
This discussion could continue with tit-for-tat exchanges about who’s guilty for a very long time (because we all are)
I am more than anti-west because of these attitudes. Did you mean that the CIA did not run death squads all over the world, and did not torment and sexually tortured prisoners? Do you think CIA is clean by saying that Russians are bad guys and the US government were the good guys?
You are very short on memory.
Wasn’t it Germany (amongst others) who bombed & invaded Yugoslavia in 1999 than separate it in pieces?
Wasn’t it Spain (amongst others) who bombed Libya in 2011 and completely destroyed the state so create wild territory very useful for Al-Qaeda & ISIL?
Wasn’t it Great Britain (amongst others) who invaded Iraq in 2003 and completely destroyed the state too so ISIS was formed (or should I say founded) there?
Speaking on Ukraine, wasn’t it US CIA who sponsorship the coup in Kiev that force Crimea & Donbass to say “No” to new regime?
Russian government has almost NO difference from ANY “western” government which think that it is strong enough for “global politics”. So all of them “evil” or all of them “good enough”.
By the way, US is biggest (or should I say HUGEST) “industrial espionage” state in the world and nobody show real facts that Hillary was hacked by Russian government backed hackers. And I does not trust Clinton family members on bare words.
I’m not trying to appease any critics towards Putin and his minions (never will and, note the difference, I’m not saying Russia), but it its hypocrisy to pretend that most elites around the world are very different. What makes other places, sometimes, more civilized is the diversity of interests around the inner circle of power, the more, usually, the better as antagonism may keep the power seekers in check. Unluckily, though, it does not translate to international affairs and we see many powerful nations taking stances on abroad subjects that are harmful to the interests of foreign citizens/residents.
Do you need me to list some of the recent actions that resulted in scores of thousand of lives slaughtered by inconsequential or ill thought out interventions and how they unfolded disgracefully? And to add insult to injury they also mourn and honor their deceased but completely ignores the orders of magnitude bigger losses from the other sides.
So, no, I’m not defending Putin and his minions, but I’m not granting any pass to misleading stereotypical self-appointed idealizations that ignores how the world is in true colors.
Yes you are. When I point out that one person is not behaving well, and you point to others who are also not behaving well it does serve to excuse the person I was blaming. We shouldn’t do that. We should call out everyone to behave better. That means when one person is called out for bad behavior, we only focus on that one person without deflection or appealing to the behavior of their peers.
Sorry, but, at least to my eyes, one thing has nothing to do with the other. It does, though, point out that may exist bias on social shaming by omission of the whole picture.
For example, 2 is even, and so is any number that results from 2 * “any number”, it does not diminishes the “degree” of “evenness” of 2, even though it disclose any bias we may have toward “evenness”.
Only, you’re the one framing it in absolutes… Pointing out that the Russian government is behaving badly does not mean that one endorses the generalised behaviour of the Western governments… It means that one thinks the Russian government behaves poorly.
Moreover, in your own example – point is that your focus is in the wrong place… You’re looking at whether 2 and the derivatives are even, where the OP was stating that 4 is not 1… As you then respond, OP is trying to point out that while both 2 and 4 are even numbers, 4 is invariably further away from 1 than 2 is, even is 2 still isn’t 1 at all.
At the end of the day, while you’re not wrong, that other governments behave poorly, you’re failing to acknowledge the poor behaviour of Russia as worse and so, you’re normalising them.
Bill Shooter of Bul,
You are absolutely right, however it’s also important to knowledge the problem is more widespread.
IMHO acobar isn’t the one “normalizing governments like Russia.”, but rather the fact that widespread deception by several governments “normalizes” it. If Russia didn’t do this, Russia would be abnormal, unfortunately.
I think all of us need to be greatly concerned because unchecked power, deception, asymmetric control over information, uneducated civilians, etc is the formula for authoritarian governments. The possibility that the next US administration may be about to hop into bed with Russia should be ringing alarm bells. Who am I kidding though, the alarm bells should have been ringing the whole time, instead people seem to think it’s a siren call.
For the reason I explained above I can not agree with you on this issue, even though I do agree that most people, somehow, tend to see it like Bill Shooter of Bul and Vanders did. For highly educated and knowledgeable persons like you all, who I keep on high standard, I find it unfortunate though, I suppose, you do that when trying to introject what others may think. It is, though, something I oppose to be made.
Edited 2016-11-30 16:22 UTC
acobar,
Well, haha, I was trying, although perhaps in vein, to emphasize that both your point about hypocrisy and Bill Shooter of Bul’s point about not deflecting both have merit.
Bill Shooter of Bul’s point “That means when one person is called out for bad behavior, we only focus on that one person without deflection or appealing to the behavior of their peers.” almost speaks directly to Trump’s campaign surrogates, (ie Kellyanne Conway, Rudy Giuliani), who blatantly avoided talking about any of Trumps policy, affairs, taxes, lawsuits, bankruptcies, and all other criticisms by immediately deflecting all media questions and criticisms as an attack on someone else whether it made sense or not. Consequently we were largely deprived of any kind of materially meaningful discourse.
Whether it is local presidents or foreign ones, I think Bill Shooter of Bul’s point is valid, “That means when one person is called out for bad behavior, we only focus on that one person without deflection or appealing to the behavior of their peers.” The all should be held individually accountable for what they do and say.
Edited 2016-11-30 17:59 UTC
You have to (re-)read The Ethical Engineer by Harry Harrison. Putin lives in the World of Obama, Merkel, Cameron & others. When all of them (ALL of them!!!) lying, shooting & stealing why and how can he live another way?
For long period of its history, many years, after USSR dissolution Russia & Russians tend to become as “western”, and even more “western” than any western country and nation. But constant deception from western “allies” force Russians to think that “in modern world You are wolf or You are sheep”. Why You blame Russians they do not want to be The Sheep?
You can’t argue with people who equate russia to other governments. Either they’re russian contractors or they’re incompetent. A big problem on the internet is people arguing with people who can’t be argued with
WOW!
You just say “People have to agree with my point of view or they are incompetent”.
A fine example of typical “western” tolerance!
This is all a farce and this agreement will die sooner than later and while there’s a very slim chance that one or two models will be released, that will the end of it.
Do not ever have any business in Russia unless you sell something to them (and get money in advance) or get something from them (then pay money after the goods have been delivered to your porch).
If true… “which is part of Russia’s long-term objective to create a more independent IT ecosystem for the country.” … AND… “Sailfish OS is licensed and developed by Russian local product company Open Mobile Platform Ltd. Open Mobile Platform’s aim is to customize and further develop Sailfish OS for the Russian market, and to answer to local Russian needs.”
Sounds like a heavily modified version of Sailfish and its’ ecosystem for Russia. It seems that the long-term plan is to do the same for China and others. As an end-user in the US, I see little in the way of an alternative to Android or iOS with this announcement.
Devil’s advocate: I can see countries like Russian and China wanting to control the data-mining themselves instead of passing that over (or sharing it) with American-based companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple and others (social networks). Further: Control of the propaganda, which our main tech firms have been engaging in, is probably also a factor.
In addition, Yahoo’s (forced) public admission to (very happily) back-dooring their own systems for the US government and thereby becoming an extension of it, must have been the final blow.
It would be hypocritical of me to fault them when we (The US and many other democratic countries) are doing the same. It’s a shame – like fighting against the wind. Shoutout to Linux, BSD (Desktops) and a few other projects (VPNS, Open Hardware, etc) for bucking this trend.
I guess they never funded React.
http://www.osnews.com/comments/25155
The never funded React os – quite true.
Edited 2016-11-29 22:01 UTC
Indeed they didn’t.
China is already Google-free.
I think it all about adopted ecosystem not about modified core.
By the way, target audience is government & government-controlled companies employees not mass-market.
> target audience is government & government-controlled companies employees not mass-market.
It seems the PDF is suggesting otherwise: “Russia’s long-term objective to create a more independent IT ecosystem for the country.” … “development in Russia is an important part of Jolla’s wider agenda, aiming to power various countries’ mobile ecosystems.” … “Open Mobile Platform’s aim is to customize and further develop Sailfish OS for the Russian market, and to answer to local Russian needs.”
There is also this entry from June-2016 that indicates this has been a long-term process and didn’t happen without lots of negotiations: https://thehackernews.com/2016/06/russian-mobile-os.html
“The Minister of Russian Communication Ministry, Nikolai Nikiforov tweeted last month about the initiative to develop a new Russian mobile operating system, for which the Russian company Open Mobile Platform (ÐžÑ‚ÐºÑ€Ñ‹Ñ‚Ð°Ñ ÐœÐ¾Ð±Ð¸Ð»ÑŒÐ½Ð°Ñ ÐŸÐ»Ð°Ñ‚Ñ„Ð¾Ñ€Ð¼Ð°) is hiring developers, testers and security engineers.”
“According to Nikiforov, the Russian Federation agreed with the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China And South Africa) countries to join efforts to Sailfish OS development in response to the total domination of US software…”
In fact, Russia seems to have been looking for ways to detach itself from US mobile OSes for some time (as they have already done with Search and Social Networking[1]), from May-2015:
http://europe.newsweek.com/russia-develop-mobile-operating-system-r…
Jolla’s statement indicates that the transition (starting with the government) is now official. It is also the BRICS countries, that are more suspicious of US firms, that they are targetting (also mentioned in the release).
[1] http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/russian-social-media-stats-y…
It is what they declare.
In fact they mean exactly what I said – to replace foreign-controlled code with local-inspected one for government employees.
It is ages old Russian tradition to declare much more than You actually plan to do. It is widely considered here that “epic” declaration of intentions attracts the luck to your project and opens up markets and use cases You does not see right now.
Edited 2016-12-01 04:51 UTC
If they take more than 5% of mass-market in Russia I will be very surprised.
iOS & Android fighting hard for Russian mass-market & I see no enough room for any other mobile OS, no matter of its quality or sponsorship.
Well, I found realistic plans of Russian government in local press.
It sounds as “to replace OS on up to 50% of government related employees mobile device to Sailfish OS RUS until the end of 2025”.
Sailfish OS RUS is government certified distribution of Sailfish OS. Jolla will held sources of Sailfish OS and provide main development. Open Mobile Platforms will adopt Sailfish OS to Russian market & local services & prepare it for certification as Sailfish OS RUS.
Nov-29 2016 first distribution of Sailfish OS RUS was successfully certified by government agency for government use.
Mobile phone with Sailfish OS RUS was announced in Jun 2016 and ready to be deployed in related audience. It is named “Ermak OMP”, built on Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM 8960 – Dual Core Krait @ 1,5 GHz and has 1GB RAM. Other specs here – http://m-infogroup.ru/oborudovanie/mobilnye-pc/282-ermak-omp
It Looks like it is contract build somewhere in China but may be not.
What about us poor Androis and iOS haters here in the US? Show us some love…
Still love my N9. One of these days it’ll be considered a retro platform, if it isn’t already.
I loved my N9 (and still do). BlackBerry 10 was close but focused too much developer effort on Android support (which sucked anyway). Maybe you should test Windows 10 Mobile? It’s not 100% stable, but it’s still way nicer than iOS and Android. It has “Glace screen” from Meego Harmattan(but a bit more tweaked and functionality wise a bit better).
Nokia had similar deals with several governments. It just meant if you’re government employed, you had to use government issued Nokia for all governmental stuff.
When Edward Snowden revealed the scale and scope of the NSA’s international data vacuuming program, the Russians started reverting to typewriters (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/11/russia-reverts-paper-n…).
So this latest move makes total sense to me, as does, incidentally, Kaspersky Labs’ development of a totally new network operating system (https://eugene.kaspersky.com/2016/11/15/finally-our-own-os-oh-yes/ – Kaspersky has links to the Russian federal government, see https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-19/cybersecurity-kas…). They want full control over their government’s top secret information, and so having access to the source code and being able to verify the lack of NSA back doors becomes very important.
Quite frankly if I were the Russian government, I’d be making deals like this too. Why would I want my nation state’s national security compromised by foreign powers? And if I were as paranoid and corrupt as President Putin allegedly is, this would be doubly true 🙂
The title of the PR PDF says it all: “Microsoft Word Jolla…”, not even they care that much about their platform.
http://theduran.com/western-racism-and-the-stereotyping-of-russians…