I apologise if this topic has already been done, but searching through the forum (and the internet), I can’t seem to find anywhere, answers my questions.
I always thought /e/OS was based on the LineageOS: a “repackage” of LIneageOS, with detault apps and default settings bundled in, to make it a complete enviornment (rather than a bare OS).
However, recently I’ve been looking closer into LineageOS and I see they offer a full environment too (not just a bare OS).
So what is the relationship between /e/OS and LIneageOS. Is the former based on the latter? And if so, what components/parts of the environment are replaced or added on top of what LineageOS offers? And additionally, is the /e/OS hardware support and Android version coverage, in step with (and directly related to) LineageOS, or independent?
Hello centaurus.
Quickly said, e-OS is a fork of Lineage OS with :
changes in the OS core to avoid / or limit private data leaks (alternative URL for various network needs, like Network Location Provider, and small things like that, + a big and unseen elsewhere feature called Advanced Privacy, mainly filtering anything in and out though a local VPN + some Thor usage + IP and GPS location hiding… etc : not a specialist, more details will be given by experts ; but you can activate its sub-feature or not as you like) ,
a specific set of built-in apps (like Mail, Message, Phone, Contacts, Browser, Weather, Maps … etc) generally (but not always : Maps) chosen from FOSS projects and modified for avoiding / limiting private data leaks
and may be other things I have forgotten at the moment
as @jpmeuret said, /e/ is a downstream fork. The FAQ About /e/OS has a lot of info, microG is pretty essential too. Some helper scripts are from lineage4microg. /e/ gitlab documents all upstream Repos in the subheader if you’re curious where it’s forked from.
If you go into building Lineage or /e/, relationships to AOSP proper will also get clear by the build manifest xml.
the /e/ version (1.0, 1.1…) reflects the development stage of all bundled Apps at that time for all Android versions that /e/ is released for (currently Q, R, S…), so it doesn’t relate to the Android Version. Have a look at that graph: e/OS + Android OS version names and numbers? - #3 by aibd
