Question about / e / versions

[dln949]

I have a Samsung Galaxy S9+ purchased from the / e / foundation:

Model SM-G965F
Android version 8.1.0
System version 0.15-o-20210317106363-stable-star2lte

I’ve never understood how the “versions” in / e / work. I’ve looked around, could not find the answer, although I may have been relying on the wrong terms to search for.

Recently I’ve read that version 0.16 is available. That’s nice, but when I check for downloads in the update option, it says there are no updates currently available. So I do not understand why it tells me that, I don’t know if I simply don’t know the secret handshake or if there is some other reason why it does not obtain the update to 0.16. But that caused me to have these more basic questions:

1. The first part of the system version – “0.15” in my case – is that an / e / version number?

2. The second part of the system version - “o” in my case – does that mean Android version Oreo?

3. Is Android version Oreo the same as what shows on my phone as “Android version 8.1.0”?

4. For any supported device, will / e / have – for example – a version 0.15 for Oreo, and then a version 0.16 for Oreo? Or, is 0.15 matched with just Oreo, and version 0.16 is matched with just Pie (or Q)?

5. Can I expect the update from 0.15 to 0.16 for this device to come from / e / over the air?

6. Can I expect the update from Oreo to Pie or Q for this device to come from / e / over the air, or do I need to download stuff and install it?

Thanks for any help understanding all this.

[Manoj]

The devices sold on the eShop have the stable version. The v0.16 build that has gone out is the dev build. The stable builds should be released by end of this week or latest by next week.
To understand the different /e/ OS build types you can go through this guide.

[AnotherElk]

@dln949

The first part of the system version – “0.15” in my case – is that an / e / version number?

Yes. Release notes are here …

https://gitlab.e.foundation/e/os/releases/-/releases

@dln949

The second part of the system version - “o” in my case – does that mean Android version Oreo?

Yes.
“p” would be Android Pie (9), “q” would be Android Q (10).

@dln949

Is Android version Oreo the same as what shows on my phone as “Android version 8.1.0”?

Yes.

@dln949

For any supported device, will / e / have – for example – a version 0.15 for Oreo, and then a version 0.16 for Oreo? Or, is 0.15 matched with just Oreo, and version 0.16 is matched with just Pie (or Q)?

A particular /e/ version can get built using different Android versions as a base, so the /e/ version doesn’t necessarily correlate to only one Android version automatically. You can see that in the release notes.
What’s available on different devices then depends on whatever works and gets support on a particular device.

@dln949

Can I expect the update from 0.15 to 0.16 for this device to come from / e / over the air?

If the update stays within the same major Android version, yes.
In your case … If there is a 0.16-o, it should come OTA (I don’t have your device).

@dln949

Can I expect the update from Oreo to Pie or Q for this device to come from / e / over the air, or do I need to download stuff and install it?

Currently the Updater doesn’t support OTA upgrades to a new major Android version, documentation about the manual process can be found on https://doc.e.foundation/devices/, for your device it’s here … https://doc.e.foundation/devices/star2lte/upgrade.
But work is being done on the Updater to enable OTA upgrades in the future.