What is BharOS?

 

What is BharOS?

Developed by IIT-Madras incubated firm JandK Operations Limited, BharOS is an operating system based on a Linux kernel, V Kamakoti, director of IIT Madras, told Moneycontrol. 

"We have used some early versions of Linux -- it's basically a derivative of the Linux kernel", he had said.

The development of BharOS began in 2020, as part of the Indian government's "Digital India" initiative, which aims to promote the use of technology in government and public institutions. 

The operating system was developed by a team of Indian engineers and programmers, and is based on the Linux kernel.

Additionally, BharOS will provide access to apps from organisation-specific Private App Store Services (PASS). "A PASS provides access to a curated list of apps that have been thoroughly vetted and have met certain security and privacy standards," a statement by IIT-Madras said.

BharOS has been released on beta version and it is being tested and used in some government offices and public institutions.

 

The Indian government has plans to make BharOS available for use in all government offices and public institutions in the near future.

But how indigenous and Made-in-India is BharOS really? 

Before going into that question, it is important to note that these developments are taking place at a time when India's competition watchdog has found Google to be abusing its dominant position in multiple markets in the Android mobile device ecosystem. 

Google has challenged this decision at the Supreme Court, which has refused to provide interim relief to the company.