Android phones, smart TVs and even a smart refrigerator use Linux. The operating system is also widely used in other areas, like in 97 percent of the world’s top 500 supercomputers.

But now there’s a new effort called Project Halium which is designed to create a single base that can be used to get any non-Android operating system to run on Android-compatible hardware.

Linux is a tried-and-true, open-source operating system released in 1991 for computers, but its use has expanded to underpin systems for cars, phones, web servers and, more recently, networking gear.

Some operating systems can be a pain in the rear to install if you don’t happen to have an optical disc drive for your computer. But if you’re trying to install most Linux-based operating ...

Russia plans Linux-based mobile operating system to rival Android and iOS Ministry of Communications hopes China and other BRICS nations will join the project.