[HN Gopher] AMA: Gael Duval, founder of the de-Googled Android O...
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       AMA: Gael Duval, founder of the de-Googled Android OS /e/
        
       Author : indidea
       Score  : 103 points
       Date   : 2021-03-27 13:45 UTC (9 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.reddit.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.reddit.com)
        
       | marcodiego wrote:
       | I have a de-googled old e-os phone as my daily driver. Very nice
       | choice. My hope is that my next one will be a full linux phone
       | like librem 5 ir pinephone. I'm just waiting for it to get more
       | mature. If I had a bit more money, I'd buy one now just to
       | support the cause.
        
       | jhardy54 wrote:
       | I'm considering switching from Android to iOS because I don't
       | want to throw away my phone once my 2-4 years of security updates
       | are over.
       | 
       | How do firmware updates factor into your thinking around Android
       | and security? Is there a way off of the "buy a new phone if you
       | want firmware updates" treadmill?
       | 
       | (I don't expect you to have a solution, but I'm curious to hear
       | how you're thinking about this problem.)
       | 
       | See-also: https://ollieparanoid.github.io/post/security-warning/
       | 
       | ---
       | 
       | Example: https://blog.exodusintel.com/2017/07/26/broadpwn/
       | 
       | If your phone is new, you'll get firmware updates to resolve
       | this. If your phone is old, you need to buy a new phone or live
       | with a vulnerable device.
        
         | em-bee wrote:
         | at least fairphone is still providing updates for their 5 year
         | old fairphone 2:
         | 
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26593274
        
       | ForHackernews wrote:
       | I've been using /e/ on my primary phone for about a year now, and
       | I've been very happy with it.
       | 
       | I'd love to see it succeed as a user-friendly, FLOSS alternative
       | to the Google/Apple duopoloy.
       | 
       | They're developing in the open, too:
       | https://gitlab.e.foundation/e
        
         | wuschel wrote:
         | Are your banking apps working? I faintly remember that being an
         | issue when switching to LineageOS.
        
           | bklaasen wrote:
           | Works with "BOI Mobile", the Bank of Ireland mobile app,
           | which I downloaded from the Aurora store. I get a
           | notification on starting the app indicating that the phone is
           | "rooted" (it isn't) but I'm not prevented from using the app.
        
           | ForHackernews wrote:
           | I don't use any banking apps, sorry. AFAIK /e/ supports
           | signature spoofing/pretending to have normal Google Play
           | Services available, so some stuff might work.
        
           | tadfisher wrote:
           | Speaking as someone who has been writing Android banking
           | software for eight-odd years, requiring SafetyNet attestation
           | is a crock of user-hostile shit so long as the same
           | institution allows random desktop Web browsers access to the
           | same APIs. I have a feeling it was invented for anti-cheat in
           | games but it became a line-item in every security director's
           | checklist because Google offers it.
        
       | mdoms wrote:
       | /e/ is easily, EASILY the worst name for a product I have ever
       | seen. I don't know how to pronounce it, I can't Google it, I
       | can't make a guess what it's domain might be. Just awful in every
       | possible way.
        
         | karmakaze wrote:
         | That's only until it becomes ubiquitous: C programming
         | language.
        
         | raverbashing wrote:
         | Also it might cause confusion with
         | https://www.enlightenment.org/
        
         | flas9sd wrote:
         | in the AMA he gives notice of things to come regarding the
         | name. Like - the operating system keeping /e/ intermittingly,
         | but choosing an overall easier to communicate project name.
        
         | burundi_coffee wrote:
         | I think I read somehwere that they chose this name as their
         | "beta" version since it's not easily googleable. As soon as
         | they gain more traction, they will rebrand.
        
           | rapnie wrote:
           | They started with eelo, but then had to change:
           | 
           | > Eelo was subsequently renamed to /e/ in July 2018 due to a
           | conflict with the "eelloo" trademark, which was owned by
           | human resources company Meurs HRM B.V.
           | 
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki//e/_(operating_system)
           | 
           | PS. I agree on it being the worst name possible.
        
       | richardfey wrote:
       | Some time ago I had to decide about which ROM to put on an old
       | phone of mine, I went with llLineageOS. Thus blog post was
       | spooky: https://infosec-handbook.eu/blog/e-foundation-first-look/
       | 
       | I also tried VanadiumOS but it wasn't for me
        
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       (page generated 2021-03-27 23:01 UTC)