Nokia orders ‘NOTKIA’, an open-source Linux phone project, to change its name

Summary: There’s an open source project that wants to bring you a Nokia-style Linux phone, but Nokia doesn’t seem to like the project’s name.

The number of words in this article: 1217, the reading time is about 2 minutes

Recently, an open source project aimed at building a classic Nokia (small) Linux phone has come under fire from Nokia.

The name of the project was originally ” Notkia “, however, Nokia believes that the name is similar to itself, which may affect its own brand reputation and violate its own rights.

While doing so protects a company’s business, what’s up with these companies sending infringement notices to projects that, in their current state, don’t even pose a threat to them?

Notkia: Developing a Pocket Linux Phone

But thanks to this infringement notice from Nokia, we can learn about this interesting project: the development of a small Linux phone for basic use, with a focus on privacy.

The goal of this project was to design a PCB that would fit perfectly into a Nokia classic phone case.

So far, the project has supported many hardware-related features, including Bluetooth and Wi-Fi.

The project is not based on Android, but on the mainline Linux kernel.

You can find it in their official blog post
? hackaday.io
to learn about the project and planned phone specifications.

Currently, the project is awaiting fundraising so that early prototypes can be purchased individually.

Inspired by and at the heart of Nokia

Well, the project makes it clear that they are inspired by classic Nokia phones, and they are not trying to mislead any contributors and potential customers.

The project’s creator, who shared Nokia’s email on Twitter, mentioned that Nokia should be more cautious before sending such notifications to projects driven by community interests.

Read again @Nokia
? twitter.com
After the email, I started to feel angry. It was nothing more than a well-planned show. Since it’s a collaborative project with contributions from people all over the world, I’ll post the full email to its “intended recipients”.

via Twitter @ReimuNotMoe

Additionally, they confirmed that the project will be renamed.

Of course, being an open source project, it should have nothing to do with Nokia unless they sell their prototypes/phones under the Nokia brand name.

However, in its current state, this is more of a passion project, the result of a collaborative effort by a community of open source enthusiasts. So it sounds far-fetched to give them a notice of infringement of Nokia’s rights.

Is it right?

Of course, for the average business, this is not surprising; but for Nokia, it is a little too cautious and anti-competitive.

What’s more, we can safely say that the performance of Nokia’s latest smartphone has not lived up to users’ expectations.

Interestingly, a Twitter user found out that there is also an IT company called “Notkia”
? www.linkedin.com
. Did they get a notification from Nokia too? Huh, who knows.

So, what do you think of this open-source project for a Linux-based pocket phone? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

The text and pictures in this article are from Linux China