The Maemo platform is the core software stack that runs on mobile devices such as the Nokia N810. The Maemo platform is built in large parts of open source components. The Maemo SDK provides an open development environment for applications on top of the Maemo platform.
The Maemo platform consists of the software stack from the Linux kernel to the Maemo APIs and the Hildon UI framework. Commercially available devices running on Maemo come with the pre-installed Hildon UI and a set of applications delivered by Nokia. It is possible to develop other UIs on top of the Hildon UI framework. As an example, the Maemo SDK is delivered with a generic UI, the so-called Plankton theme.
Maemo platform is based on Linux operating system which itself inherits its architecture from the Unix operating system. Linux and other open source projects contributing to the Maemo platform embrace sharing of source code, collaboration and open development model. The Maemo community promotes these values by keeping the Maemo platform open wherever feasible, by sharing source code, and by contributing code directly to the upstream projects.
Key Components of the Maemo Platform
The Maemo platform is based on the Linux operating system kernel. Linux is a monolithic kernel that supports multiple hardware platforms and is able to support a wide range of different kinds of devices from wrist watches to large server systems. Currently all devices running on the Maemo platform have an OMAP chipset, which contain a general-purpose ARM processor and a DSP unit.
The user interface architecture of Maemo 4 is based on GNOME framework, especially the GTK+ widget set. GNOME is a leading application framework for desktop Linux systems. Maemo platform has inherited many central components such as GTK+, the GStreamer multimedia framework, the GConf configuration management, and the XML library. The Maemo platform extends GTK+/GNOME technologies by providing extensions for a mobile desktop.
