Dutch university to start handing out only Fairphones to employees, instead of buying iPhones or Samsung.

@BuyFromEU Well done for them!

@BuyFromEU Ik heb mij afgelopen december een Fairphone 6 aangeschaft. Ik houd voorlopig Android aan ivm met bank app.

@Fietsbel @alloalli @vosje62 @BuyFromEU this is not what the Open Source license dictates. Yes, android makes it very easy to be activated with a gmail account, but that is not a hard requirement.

The code is maintained by them, not owned under the license, and forks exist and thrive like e/OS.

@wsslmn @alloalli @vosje62 @BuyFromEU The issue is: who maintains and updates the code? On my current iPhone it‘s Apple, with any version of Android, it would be Google, am I right? So there would be a possibility for Google then to intrude into my phone, and the problem would not really be solved, except maybe for experts familiar with the details of the source code. If that level is required: that’s too much, especially for ordinary people without any affinity with science or technology. 1/

@wsslmn @alloalli @vosje62 @BuyFromEU My idea would rather be: a Europe-based/-owned OS on a Europe-based smartphone, and all sorts of home apps to be adapted to them. I know it‘s difficult, I know it‘s not available tomorrow yet. but developers and related companies should work on them NOW. 2/

@Fietsbel @wsslmn @vosje62 @BuyFromEU that already exists, #murena

@alloalli @Fietsbel @vosje62 @BuyFromEU yup, that ideal situation is already here. But we keep focussing on the stuff that doesn't work yet. Which is not Murena's problem, but lies with all the companies that only build for Google and Apple infrastructure.

Google is definitely not the only org working on Android

@wsslmn @alloalli @Fietsbel @BuyFromEU

Android(versions) on phones are build to make it almost impossible to load an alternative os.
That is why I started a few years ago with a Fairphone (5).
Later on I will change that to e/os.
(And a later Fairphone will have e/os by default.)

@vosje62 @wsslmn @alloalli @BuyFromEU As I read on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//e/_(operating_system), /e/os challenges the public to find parts of the system […] that still leak data to Google. It’s not my idea to migrate for that, as I’d have to migrate from Apple, this being more difficult anyway (certain data loss almost inevitable)

@wsslmn @alloalli @vosje62 @BuyFromEU First, /e/OS would have to work without leaks to Google. And companies should provide apps for the (working) /e/os , also without leaking data to Google.

@wsslmn @alloalli @vosje62 @BuyFromEU No, but all EU-based OS are still under development, it seems, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//e/_(operating_system)#Murena

@Fietsbel @wsslmn @alloalli @BuyFromEU
When i looked for it in 2024 all apps I needed worked good on e/os.
And there is good info available on that.

That some apps will never work will be in most cases intentionally. If you want to make money with it by data grabbing, you don't want to work it to work on another os where you can't grab the data.

@vosje62 @wsslmn @alloalli @BuyFromEU Obviously, I don’t engage in criminal activities on my phone. I hinted at home-managing apps like Tahoma, apps for security systems already in place, banking apps, and the like.

@Fietsbel @vosje62 @wsslmn @BuyFromEU

as I read it in Wikipedia: the AOSP software is free under Apache licence, but the name Android and it's logo are Google's propretairy, so a software system based on AOSP but renamed like e/os can't be influenced by Google

Quote from Wikipedia:
"While AOSP is free, the "Android" name and logo are trademarks of Google, who restrict the use of Android branding on "uncertified" products"

@danielezomg @mfr @TrVr @BuyFromEU @murena indeed i no longer use wallet and just use my cards. Just as convenient without the extra analytics

@BuyFromEU Nice! If only they were #Linux powered too

@BuyFromEU Very pleased with my Fairphone. It was in my pocket when I fell off my bike going too fast down a hill and broke my arm. It probably saved my hip. It was still ringing, so I decided to replace the screen. Still going well 3 years later.

@Fietsbel @wsslmn @alloalli @vosje62 @BuyFromEU But the Wikipedia page you are linking to says /e/OS does *not* leak data to Google (they challenges people to find leaks).

The reason is that /e/OS does not use Google Play Services, but emulates it using microG. Of course, if you are installing apps from the Play Store and using the Google notification service, you will leak data, but that is your own choice.

@Fietsbel @wsslmn @alloalli @vosje62 @BuyFromEU Yes and no. Google maintains AOSP code, but Google does not directly push compiled code to an /e/OS phone.

The /e/OS developers take the AOSP code, rip out things (like Google bits they don't like) and put their own bits on top. Then they compile the whole system (minus device firmware blobs) themselves and push the result out as an OS image.

So Google does not have direct control over an /e/OS phone.

@Fietsbel @wsslmn @vosje62 @BuyFromEU /e/OS is a European OS. Yes, it is built on AOSP, but it would be silly not to do that. Using AOSP makes it so that you don't have to develop the whole mobile OS from scratch and gives compatibility with Android apps.

Murena compiles /e/OS from the AOSP source with their own changes on top of it. If Google ever stops publishing AOSP sources, the E foundation/Europe could fork the AOSP project and continue developing it.