A basic rule to keep systems secure is: “install the latest security patches”. I wonder how /e/ plans to enable this.
The list of supported devices is growing and contains devices that are no longer supported by the manufacturer. In most cases this means there are no security patches for the low-level (mostly proprietary drivers and firmware) parts of the system. I consider this a reason to avoid those devices and specifically not recommend them to less technically-inclined friends.
The only way I see to deliver a reasonably secure device would be for /e/ to be the manufacturer and do it right.
addendum: Google released a list of devices that got updated recently. Everything that’s not on this list should not be used imho.
You have raised a valid point @hex-m. As mentioned on the /e/ website https://e.foundation/mobile-phone-os/ under Supported Devices …‘not all devices from this list will be officially supported if they become obsolete’ . The list of devices is definitely reviewed to weed out obsolete devices and add new ones which can be supported.
Fairphone 2 is not on the list. A recent device, receiving updates from the manufacturer, not from Google. Fairphone even apologizes for the few proprietary drivers remaining in the hardware.
Bought the phone because it is supported in all alternative smartphone OS’s, so I hope it remains supported in /e/. Even had to wait until Mai before the newest FP2 was available. February - April is recent. It is not a phone to throw away after 2 years as most smartphones are, it is a phone to maintain for many years to come (the modular concept).
Fairphone will receive an Android upgrade soon and then continue to get monthly security updates. But Fairphone is a small team and upgrades take a while.
I think I don’t need to create a new topic about that :
On my samsung Galaxy J5 2015 (j5nlte) which has never been supported by LineageOS, the security patch is still the 2019-10-05 but the last released from AOSP is the 2019-10-06.
Is it a normal delay or is there something wrong ?
Furthermore : could a security patch be forgotten or is it impossible ? Because if on my device it changes directly from the 2019-10-05 to the November patch, I will always ask myself if the 2019-10-06 has been applied or not.
A security patch cannot be forgotten. We usually apply the patches around the mid of the month. Are you saying there were multiple patches in a month. In that case the next patch would have both the updates.
…after applying the 17.12.2019-update (I’m using S4 mini GT-i9195 serranoltexx) there is still the november-security-patch instead of december… Is there any chance, the next update will include the actual patch ? community-based /e/OS for this phone is still based on Nougat, but here user “Chimpthepimp” build a “Pie”- based ROM:
What about taking this one and applying latest patche(es) and making it ‘official’, actually it’s working quite good… ?!?
I have a S7 bought from e and no update, even security, since 8/11/2019, more than 2 month ago. Do you have update planned for these device because it means that some security issue are not fixed?
Secondary question, is an upgrade to android 8 or more planned?
Could you post a screenshot from Settings > System > About Phone so we can check which build is actually installed on your phone?
Also, if you go to “System updates”, does it show any updates? Which date is shown under “Last checked:”?
As far as I know, the devs are working on updating the OS to Pie - not sure if this applies to all phones though
