Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, the Union Minister for Communications, Electronics, and Information Technology and the Union Minister for Education, put the recently released native operating system called “BharOS” through its paces. BharOS is created by the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT). Ashwini Vaishnaw, the minister of union telecom, was also present. The Desi OS development team received praise from the ministers.
He lauded the efforts of everyone associated with the project and those who contributed to the system’s development.
“When our Prime Minister Narendra Modiji first discussed a digital India 8 years ago, some of our friends made fun of him, but now, technocrats, innovators, businesses, policymakers, and educational institutions across the nation have adopted his vision”, Pradhan added.
What Is BharOS?
BharOS is an Indian government-funded initiative to create an open-source, cost-free operating system (OS). The project aims to foster the adoption of locally created technology while reducing reliance on foreign operating systems in cell phones.
BharOS has no default applications (NDA). Users can download the programmes they choose to use. Hence there are no default apps. Users can opt only to download apps they trust to access particular features or data on their devices, giving them more control over the rights that apps have on their devices.
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The OS gives users access to reliable applications from company-specific Private App Store Services (PASS). A PASS gives access to a selection of apps that have allegedly undergone rigorous testing and adheres to strict security and privacy guidelines. Based on the Android Open Source Project, BharOS resembles Google’s Android operating system in specific ways. However, no similarities can be drawn between Apple’s exclusive operating system, iOS and BharOS.
The main distinction between BharOS and Android is that the former lacks any Google services or apps. Simply put, there are no pre-installed apps on BharOS. Users now have the freedom to download any app of their choosing. Users using BharOS can download the APK files for the programmes they want to utilise from the internet. However, APK files do have a chance of being hazardous, and Google itself requests that users not download APK files.
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JandK Operations Private Limited – The Company Behind BharOS
The IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation, a Section 8 (Not for Profit) Company formed by IIT Madras, served as the incubator for JandK Operations Private Limited (JandKops), which created the BharOS. The National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems of the Government of India’s Department of Science and Technology (DST) provides funding for the Foundation (NMICPS).
The BharOS Service is a mobile operating system that gives consumers more freedom, autonomy, and flexibility to select and employ only the apps that are an excellent fitment for their needs. Rooted in a foundation of trust, this ground-breaking approach aims to transform how consumers view security and privacy on mobile devices, opines IIT Madras director Professor V Kamakoti.
