The mobile Linux operating system postmarketOS has officially changed its name to Nura, ending a naming process that lasted roughly a year and a half.
The project announced the new name today during its conference. From now on, the operating system and project will be known as Nura, although references to postmarketOS will remain in documentation, packages, websites, and other places while the transition completes.
Nura is short for “Nuraghe,” the name given to ancient stone structures found across Sardinia, Italy. Many of these structures have survived for thousands of years, which the developers say fits the project’s long-standing goal of keeping devices useful for as long as possible.
As for why postmarketOS needed a new name in the first place, the team points to several practical problems that have become increasingly noticeable over the years.
For starters, “postmarketOS” is long and can be difficult to pronounce and remember in some languages. Its unusual capitalization has caused confusion, with variations like PostmarketOS, PostMarketOS, and PostmarketOS commonly appearing.
More importantly, the developers say the descriptive old name no longer accurately reflects the project’s scope. What initially explained the idea behind postmarketOS became limiting as the project evolved. For example, PinePhones are now sold with postmarketOS preinstalled, making the idea of a strictly “post-market” operating system less applicable.
Another consideration is that because postmarketOS is descriptive, the name cannot be trademarked. A trademark application for Nura has been filed, giving the project greater ability to protect its identity against fraudulent or misleading use.
According to the team, choosing the replacement was not a quick decision. More than 300 names were submitted by the community before a selection team narrowed them down through multiple evaluation rounds.
Four candidates eventually made the final shortlist. They were checked for potentially problematic meanings across different languages before being put to an internal team vote, where Nura ultimately received the highest result.
Despite the new name, the familiar postmarketOS logo is staying. It has received subtle refinements, including increased spacing between its arrows to improve visibility at a distance. The updated version was also reconstructed mathematically to make it easier to reproduce consistently.
Alongside the rebrand comes a new home at nura.eco. The developers initially looked at nura.org, but the domain was already owned and could not be purchased at a reasonable price. Instead, the team chose the .eco domain, which fits well with the project’s focus on extending the useful life of existing hardware.
For end users, nothing changes. Nura continues the same mission postmarketOS has pursued for years: providing a Linux-based operating system that can keep smartphones and other devices useful long after their original software support has ended.
For more details, see the official announcement.
Image credits: Nura
