eelo Mobile Operating System.
That was the question that lurked in the back of my mind when I heard the news of Gaël Duval‘s quest to produce an android mobile operating system (OS) – eelo – with little or no influence from Google as much as possible. A mobile OS that should respect users’ privacy and rights – a “free” mobile system.
Who is _ this _ guy?
The person that is trying to get this off the ground, Gaël Duval, is a software engineer of repute.
Gaël Duval – eelo’s Founder.
He is the founder of defunct mandrake Linux (that later merged with the brazillian Conectiva Linux to form Mandriva Linux) in the year 1998. One of the early effort to bring the Linux experience to desktop users through user-friendly interfaces; in addition to the traditional command-line interaction and configuration. I can still remember the plethora of highly customized apps I saw when I came in contact with Mandriva Linux at a government secondary school computer lab in 2011. They were amazing. Community-backed distros like OpenMandriva and Mageia still carry some of the essential “spirits” of the Mandrake project.
Since Google is highly inter-twined with the core fabric of android, it would be a project that would require a lot of work – for a worthy cause though.
He has hinted on implementing successful Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) applications and platforms as viable alternatives to most of Google services tied to android which are deemed non-free or closed-source.
Even though others (CyanogenModcomes to mind) have tried to do the same thing, it has mostly not been about freedom and most times has been in-house developers. Duval is the one I know of that is trying to leverage the wider open-source developer community like no other, IMHO.
This effort has been widely praised in the Free and open-source software community.
This has ignited my hope that a truly free mobile experience is possible and closer than I think. Especially when Canonical (the company behind the popular Ubuntu Linux OS) pulled the plug on their mobile platform development to focus on Internet of Things (IoT) and the Cloud.
Privacy-Oriented
The base android system might be open-source but android devices are shipped with many closed-source/non-free applications and services – majority of them by Google itself. No doubt, every android users knows how much of Google’s hands are felt in the OS. And this can be annoying for many, especially those that take their privacy very serious.
The alternative… _ eelo _
Duval has proposed some open-sourced applications and services he intend to integrate into eelo:
APP LAUNCHER:
eelo BlissLauncher 1 from eelo on Vimeo.
The project has already begun work and features the newly developed mobile app launcher named BlissLauncher 2.
EMAIL:
iRedMail. With additional security on servers, where emails are to be stored.
SEARCH:
DuckDuckGo and Qwant. They would be wrapped behind the “search.eelo.io” service feature.
MAPS:
OpenStreetMaps is the favoured choice.
OFFICE:
OnlyOffice is favoured. But there’s the option of Libreoffice or Collabora.
Drives/Notes/Calendar:
NextCloud seemed to be favoured.
Social/Messaging:
– Mastodon is supported for social.
– While Telegram is proposed to be the default messaging app. But the user would have the option to choose another messaging app based on personal preference.
And more…
Though the list is not exhaustive, and he has reached out to FOSS developer communities for inputs and better app/service(s) alternatives that would meet the objectives of the overall project.
In the long run…
The eelo Project has issued a road-map regarding its plans for the next three years. During year one, it hopes to have a downloadable ROM for several devices. In year two, it plans to release eelo OS for PC and set up a foundation in order to secure the company’s assets. In year three, version two of the mobile OS and the web services will be released alongside a smartphone and a digital assistant.
<ROADMAP_IMG>
What I think?
No doubt Linux is gaining grounds in the desktop-sphere – where it has been lagging behind. A truly free mobile OS would be another achievement for FOSS in general. Definitely it would not immediately be as polished as the android backed by the giant billion-dollar corporation, but it would be a step in the right direction. And, in the long run, it would have created a robust platform where improvements can be made and developed.
So like every FOSS innovation, support is needed – you know what i mean – financially and otherwise. This is to ensure the continuous development of eelo – towards a truly free mobile operating system.
Happy Linux’NG!
The post Can Android flourish WITHOUT Google? appeared first on Foss Naija.
Top comments (5)
"As for messaging, everyone will be able to use their messaging app of choice, but eelo will ship with Telegram by default. The reason is that Telegram is probably the most secure messaging app, and also the most respectful of user’s privacy. It also provides quality voice calls over IP. Last but not least, its client is open source (although the server infrastructure is not)." - GAËL DUVAL
Duval (the eelo Project) still expect potential suggestions from the public (people like you, if you have one) as regarding apps/features/services that respect users' freedom and privacy.
And note that, users that want other services (alternative to the DEFAULT ones)...have the "freedom" to install them if they wish.
Even I have some concerns about Telegram . Its also backed by a russian Giant right . Hopefully they will change it to block chain based technology
hopefully...
No need to jump to conclusions .
Not everyone needs it . But somebody will .
Our normal smartphones don't cost more than $1000 but there are Million dollar phones made of Gold and Diamonds are available . Right ?
Everything is not for us . Many Open source Projects started with the simple ideas from hardworking people .
iOS and Android is backed by giants because its their business . You know Linux is backed by giants like RedHat , IBM and much more .
You can't finance the entire operation . But software dev's OSS contributors will.
These are pre mature questions . You can't expect a 5 year old to compete with Ussain Bolt .
Let's give it some time and see where it takes us . Many options means a good thing right ?
Those are nice points...
If I want to summarize the whole point, it would be freedom! Many people prefer privacy over convenience. Android is so locked into google (iOS is worse) that I tend to lose some important "freedom(s)" in how I use MY device, because the big corp won't allow me - except I have some hacking superpower to do otherwise.
Personally I've restricted my self to a few google services, just to avoid their intrusive nature.
It costs more to entrust personal data onto one entity - I ultimately become a product to facebook, google, apple and the likes.
Open-source generally empowers, that's what I like about it. It is the driving force behind the internet we all enjoy.
As for your questions regarding eelo, I provided some links in the article. let me add some others here:
kickstarter.com/projects/290746744...
indidea.org/gael/blog/leaving-appl...
hackernoon.com/leaving-apple-and-g...