About /e/

[tycrek]

(For reference, read Issues #6 and #27)

/e/ is an Android alternative. There seems to be a bit of controversy over whether or not it is truly privacy friendly. Read the above issues or this link for privacytools.io.

The founder of e.foundation reached out to me over email and provided me with a number of links:

• https://gitlab.e.foundation/e/management/issues?label_name%5B%5D=Infosec+Handbook+Review
• https://www.indidea.org/gael/blog/leaving-apple-google-eelo-odyssey-introduction/
• https://www.indidea.org/gael/blog/leaving-apple-google-eelo-odyssey-part1-mobile-os/
• https://www.indidea.org/gael/blog/leaving-apple-google-eelo-odyssey-part2-web-services/

Other relevant links:

• Lengthy discussion on whether Wikipedia page should be removed. Last update was December 2018. I feel the discussion and many points discussed in it are no longer relevant.
• Conflict of interest for Wikipedia user. Appears to be resolved. Original accusation only backed up by assumptions (quote: "the nature of your edits gives the impression")
• Very detailed analysis of /e/. Posted December 25/26 2019. Discusses ongoing issues with /e/ and the progress on fixing them. At least 3 analysis' have been done by this website.
• Forum thread discussing the included app store. Very lengthy post. One user finds that "most" APK files are from either F-Droid or APKpure. Thread ends with moderator linking to the wiki and closing the thread. Wiki mentions the same site that frequently appears in thread (cleanapk.org). At this time it is still unknown where APK's actually come from and who owns cleanapk.org. It appears as though the moderator kept trying to doge the questions. Many apps available also appear to violate open source licensing terms.
• Lengthy forum post of users requesting apps for built in app store. Still very unclear why /e/ doesn't just take advantage of existing, trusted sources such as F-Droid. If they wanted to use sources like APKpure, a home screen shortcut would work just fine.
• "How much of the /e/ ROM is degoogled?" Not entirely sure what the takeaway here is.

Based on the above links, it is difficult to be certain that /e/ is totally Degoogled. I do think they have privacy in their best interests. It is clear based on forum posts that transparency between the company and users is an ongoing issue. I recommend each user read through the links to determine if it is the proper solution for them.

Consider this pinned issue as a place for open discussion. Avoid starting flamewars! This is also not the place for personal opinions.

[ghost]

About Wikipedia: https://ewwlo.xyz/wikipedia.html

[tycrek]

I feel this can be closed for now, however any input is still appreciated, as always.

[kaliangel]

If you quote LineageOS you must quote /e/.

Indeed /e/ is based on LineageOS and takes out the last pieces of Google that are left from it. /e/ is therefore much better degoogleized than LineageOS. LineageOS teams explain that they are not against Google and that they use some of their services, such as DNS or connectivitycheck.

You can read this to learn more about LineageOS and Google: https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/comments/cldrym/how_to_degoogle_lineageos_in_2019/

[tycrek]

/e/ is not going to be added. If there are concerns about LineageOS, please open a new Issue.