Fairphone 4 updates for kernel and firmware

/e/OS Devices Fairphone
1

hi,

i’m interested in a fairphone 4 with /e/ and would like to have some feedback from the developers (of course the community is welcome to participate as well)

as far as i understand, /e/ is only the operating system itself (the android part so to say).

it is not clear to me how updates for the linux kernel, the soc and other firmware parts (e.g. the baseband) are handled.

such updates are also delivered through the regular update mechanisms for /e/, aren’t they?

but isn’t it the case that /e/ in the end depends on fairphone and qualcomm to offer kernel and firmware updates?

how fast and how reliable will /e/ make such updates available for a fairphone 4?

also, i doubt that qualcomm will offer updates for their firmware for a long time. regarding security, do you guys see any problem in using a device with old, outdated firmware (even when the os and the kernel are up to date)?

thanks

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2

Yes. At least in the past it normally came with an OTA update.

Yes, that was what I’ve seen in the past. Although in very rare cases a kernel update was offered by the community for e.g. the FP2.

There’s a partnership between FP and Murena. So I hope they’ll be available for /e/OS when available for FPOS.

Well, for now it’s still supported afaik.

2 Likes
3

Thank you for sharing your experience.

Yes, but I would like to use the phone as long as possible. Five years at least.

And I’ve read somewhere that Qualcomm would probably drop support for their stuff in the Fairphone 4 next year :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

Do you consider missing firmware updates a problem?

4

Well, this will probably happen during your planned 5 years, maybe even yet next year and it’ll increase the security risk for the device.
Still it’s up to you if you accept the risk or not (both decisions are understandable for me).
I just doubt you’ll find any Android device with a lifespan of five years if you won’t accept that risk.

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The problem is that in the end I just don’t have enough technical knowledge to make a decision which could really be considered competent.

I have learned this and that throughout the years, but everything is so complex and I also have a job and a family so I can’t spend the whole day doing research.

I was hoping that the developers would reply to this thread and share their thoughts so I could make a decision based on their advise.

6

I understand you, @silverblue02 . Me too have a family and a work and I’m not a technician.
My thought is this.
Buying a traditional G/A/M phone, I know my security is protected for, don’t know, 1-2 years or less; not my privacy.
Buying a Fairphone my security is protected for more than 2 years. If I install eOS my privacy is protected for at least the same period, or more.

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