Nokia foresaw the potential of Linux as a mobile platform as far back as 2005 when it initiated the Maemo project based on Debian GNU/Linux. Maemo first appeared on the N770 internet tablet in November 2005. The N770 was a success but was targeted at a limited audience of geeks and developers.
The fate of Maemo was symptomatic of Nokia’s failures. Maemo was never picked up or streamlined for use in commercial products, and suffered from a lack of continuity.