/e/ (operating system)

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Not to be confused with Close-mid front unrounded vowel, /e/, or Enlightenment (software).
/e/
DeveloperGaël Duval, /e/ Foundation
OS familyAndroid (Linux)
Repositorygitlab.e.foundation
Package managerAPK-based
PlatformsARM, ARM64
Kernel typeMonolithic (Linux)
LicenseApache 2, MIT and other licenses
Official websitee.foundation/e-os/

/e/ (also known as /e/ OS and /e/OS, formerly Eelo) is an Android-based mobile operating system and associated online services.[1] The operating system is a fork of LineageOS and Android.[2] The custom firmware is developed by the /e/ Foundation, which was founded by French entrepreneur Gaël Duval. /e/ is presented as privacy software that does not contain proprietary Google apps or services,[3] and challenges the public to "find any parts of the system or default applications that are still leaking data to Google."[4]

Software

/e/ is based on LineageOS, a fork of the CyanogenMod and Android operating systems. /e/ uses MicroG as a free and open-source replacement for Google Play Services, and Mozilla Location Service for geolocation.[4][5]

Some /e/ applications and sources are proprietary.[6] /e/ includes a proprietary maps app.[7] A privacy app was proprietary when first developed, then open source after release.[8] Sources for some devices are not publicly available, according to foundation staff.[9]

History

In 2017, Mandrake Linux creator Gaël Duval proposed the concept of an operating system without privacy-invasive software as a "non-profit project 'in the public interest'". Duval wrote, "Apple, Google, Facebook etc., business models are harmful for our economical and social environments".[10] The operating system was initially called Eelo; the name was inspired by moray eels, which Duval saw as "fish that can hide in the sea".[11][12] Duval launched a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign with an initial goal of €25,000, and received at least €71,000 from contributors.[10][11][13]

Beta versions of /e/ were released for 20 to 30 smartphone models in September 2018.[4][14] As of November 2019 /e/ supported 89 smartphone models.[15] As of April 2020, /e/ was teaming with Fairphone to sell phones.

Corporations and organizations

ECORP SAS, a privately held corporation founded in 2018 with Gael Duval President and Alexis Noetinger General Director, operates the online store selling phones with /e/ operating system pre-installed, and the included online services.[16][17]

ESolutions SAS, a privately held corporation, was formed in January 2020 with Ecorp SAS listed as President[clarification needed] and Alexis Noetinger as General Director. ESolutions operates the online store for sales of phones and cloud storage subscriptions.[18][19]

As of May 2022, it was announced a "Murena One" phone would be sold by Murena company with /e/ included.[20][21][22] The Murena company was established as a different entity for selling these phones.[23] As of August 2022, the Murena One has been on backorder since announced.[24][citation needed]

Reception

The Free Software Foundation declined to endorse /e/ because it "contains nonfree libraries".[6] Ross Rubin of Fast Company described /e/'s strategy as a "Google-like approach" of maximizing user adoption, in contrast to hardware manufacturer and software developer Purism's "Apple-like approach" of vertical integration.[25] Jack Wallen of TechRepublic believed that /e/ will "prove Android can exist without Google", but predicted that the operating system would not appeal to ordinary smartphone users.[26] Sascha Segan of PC Magazine was "encouraged by /e/, and by its determination to create an easy-to-use (and, hopefully, easy to install) alternative," but was "queasy about the sources of third-party apps on /e/." He also defended /e/ against InfoSec Handbook's criticisms, which /e/ "took to heart and has been working on it in public bug threads anyone can read online."[27] Steven Vaughan-Nichols reviewed a refurbished Samsung phone with pre-installed /e/ paralleling Android 8.1, and found it to be "quite stable," but said "applications can be a pain" and "installing /e/ is a monster of a job."[15]

In November 2020, Tim Anderson of The Register said installation of /e/ is "not for the fainthearted" [sic] but the operating system "feels lightweight and responsive" because of "fewer background services than on a typical Android device."[28]

In February 2021 Ferdinand Thommes of Linux News .de published a submitted review of Fairphone 3 with pre-installed /e/. They called it "very expensive" and said on initial startup, an operating system update was needed, which took about 15 minutes. After a few minutes the Bliss Launcher was "annoying" so they replaced it with a different launcher from F-Droid, which took "about 3 hours." Fingerprint sensing did not work reliably initially or after a sensor replacement. /e/ support was friendly, competent and quick responding. "Despite all the negative points" they "can recommend both device and operating system."[29]

In May 2022, according to Liam Proven writing for The Register, /e/ Foundation announced sales of "privacy-centric" phones branded as Murena phones including Murena One, a budget hardware device running Android 10, and priced "noticeably more expensive than the rock-bottom budget end of the market". Proven also said /e/ OS feels "clunky in places", functionality is restricted compared with full Google Android, but it works, is fast and stable.[20] David Pierce of The Verge said App Lounge required accepting Terms of Service, and you download Play apps from Google in a "different-looking store". The connection to Google made "a lot of Murena's early testers mad" according to Pierce. Pierce concluded Murena and /e/OS show "how ingrained Google is in our digital lives" and how much control Google has.[21] Michael Allison of Digital Trends said "Murena will all but certainly fail" and "A de-Googled smartphone can never hit mass appeal".[22]

Reception by XDA developers is that the system is a walled garden. But nothing stopped users from installing Aurora Store to access Play Store apps.[24]

Controversies

Data leakage incident

In May 2022, during several days of cloud infrastructure maintenance, e foundation spokesman arnauvp stated an error applying a patch caused data leakage between different user accounts, including screenshots, photos, and note files.[30][31] On May 29, 2022, owner Gael Duval stated a maximum of 3307 users (about 5% of ecloud users) were involved, and said "We will share more information about our findings within 72 hours."[32] Over a month later on July 4, 2022, e foundation announced a revised number of impacted users of 379 total, with no details of the investigation or error provided.[33]

3G phone sales

In 2022 an issue arose because in 2021, customers in the USA were sold Samsung phones that lost cellular network connectivity after about a year, because of 3G shutdowns. Partial refunds may be given, according to foundation staff.[34]

Trademark

Eelo was subsequently renamed to /e/ in July 2018 due to a conflict with the "eelloo" trademark, which was owned by a human resources company. In a March 2020 interview, Duval stated the /e/ name would be abandoned "for something else quite soon".[4][35]

See also

References

  1. ^ Moody, Glyn (8 October 2018). "Now Is the Time to Start Planning for the Post-Android World". Linux Journal. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  2. ^ Schofield, Jack (4 July 2019). "Can I buy a phone that doesn't use anything from Google or Apple?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  3. ^ Rajan, Nandagopal (1 January 2018). "Eelo, new 'privacy-enabled' smartphone OS, will have no Google inside". The Indian Express. Retrieved 7 September 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d Orlowski, Andrew (24 September 2018). "Open-source alt-droid wants to know if it's still leaking data to Google". The Register. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  5. ^ "Meet eelo: An Android-based operating system that doesn't use Google services". BGR India. 2018-01-03. Retrieved 2019-09-07.
  6. ^ a b Free Software Foundation's Licensing and Compliance Lab (ed.). "Explaining Why We Don't Endorse Other Systems". GNU. Retrieved 25 July 2022. /e/ (formerly eelo) is a modified version of Android, which contains nonfree libraries.
  7. ^ "Maps application". web.archive.org. 2022-06-24. Archived from the original on 2022-06-24. Retrieved 2022-06-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ^ "Advanced Privacy? - #9 by Manoj - Forum - /e/ community". web.archive.org. 2022-06-24. Archived from the original on 2022-06-24. Retrieved 2022-06-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  9. ^ "Sources for R FP3? - #3 by Manoj - Fairphone - /e/ community". web.archive.org. 2022-06-24. Archived from the original on 2022-06-24. Retrieved 2022-06-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  10. ^ a b Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. (2 January 2018). "Eelo: A Google-less Android alternative emerges". ZDNet. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  11. ^ a b Byfield, Bruce (March 2018). "You Say Goodbye, and I Say eelo". Linux Magazine. No. 208. Retrieved 2019-09-07.
  12. ^ David, Nash (5 January 2018). "eelo: In conversation with Gaël Duval, creator of the Google-less Android project". BGR India. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
  13. ^ Nora, Dominique (13 January 2018). "Eelo, le smartphone qui veut se passer d'Apple et Google". L'Obs (in French). Retrieved 2019-09-07.
  14. ^ Filippone, Dominique (19 September 2018). "Eelo : l'OS mobile open source de Gaël Duval sort en bêta" [Eelo: Gaël Duval's open source mobile OS is released in beta]. Le Monde informatique [fr] (in French). Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  15. ^ a b Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. "The /e/ Google-free, pro-privacy Android phone runs well -- for a beta". ZDNet. Retrieved 2019-11-21.
  16. ^ "ECORP solutions". ecorp.solutions. Retrieved 2021-07-13.
  17. ^ "ECORP S.A.S (CAEN) Chiffre d'affaires, résultat, bilans sur SOCIETE.COM - 840996516". www.societe.com. Retrieved 2021-08-26.
  18. ^ "ESOLUTIONS (PARIS 7) Chiffre d'affaires, résultat, bilans sur SOCIETE.COM - 883789398". www.societe.com. Retrieved 2021-08-26.
  19. ^ E Foundation. "e Cloud Storage Upgrade". E Foundation. Archived from the original on 2021-08-26. Retrieved August 25, 2021.
  20. ^ a b Prague, Liam Proven in. "Murena and /e/ Foundation launch privacy-centric smartphones". www.theregister.com. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  21. ^ a b Pierce, David (2022-05-31). "The Murena One shows exactly how hard it is to de-Google your smartphone". The Verge. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  22. ^ a b "Sorry Murena, a successful Android phone needs Google". Digital Trends. 2022-06-01. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
  23. ^ Das, Ankush (2022-06-01). "de-Googled /e/OS v1 Released Along with a New Brand 'Murena' for Smartphone and Cloud Services". It's FOSS News. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
  24. ^ a b "The Murena One smartphone removes Google from your life". XDA. 2022-05-31. Retrieved 2022-07-31.
  25. ^ Rubin, Ross (9 August 2019). "These startups aim to smash Apple and Google's smartphone duopoly". Fast Company. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  26. ^ Wallen, Jack (3 October 2018). "Is /e/ good or bad for mobility?". TechRepublic. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
  27. ^ Segan, Sascha (October 21, 2019). "Hands On With /e/, a Version of Android That Ditches Google". PCMAG. Retrieved 2019-10-29.
  28. ^ Anderson, Tim (November 12, 2020). "Android without Google – and yes it has apps: The Reg talks to founder about the /e/ smartphone". www.theregister.com. Archived from the original on 2020-11-13. Retrieved 2021-01-20.
  29. ^ Thommes, Ferdinand (February 27, 2021). "Erfahrungsbericht: Fairphone 3+ mit vorinstalliertem /e/" (in German). Archived from the original on 2021-02-27. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  30. ^ "Service Announcement : 26 May - Forum - /e/ community". 2022-05-29. Archived from the original on 29 May 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-29.
  31. ^ "Notes affiche les notes de quelqu'un d'autre - /e/OS Support Utilisateurs - /e/ community". 2022-05-29. Archived from the original on 29 May 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-29.
  32. ^ "Service Announcement : 26 May - Forum - /e/ community". 2022-05-30. Archived from the original on 30 May 2022. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
  33. ^ "E Foundation/ecloud Security Notice June 15, 2022 - Security Announcements - /e/ community". web.archive.org. 2022-07-04. Archived from the original on 2022-07-04. Retrieved 2022-08-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  34. ^ "I'm pissed off with /e/, Response by foundation spokesman". /e/ community. Archived from the original on 2022-04-19. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  35. ^ "The De-Googled Android Fork is Making Good Progress". It's FOSS News. 2020-03-07. Retrieved 2022-09-04.

External links

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