De-Googled Android fork by Mandrake Linux founder Gaël Duval, replacing all Google services with privacy-respecting alternatives.
/e/OS is based on LineageOS/AOSP with all Google services replaced. It includes MicroG for compatibility, App Lounge for app installation, a privacy-scoring system for apps, and cloud services (email, storage, calendar) hosted by the /e/ Foundation. It supports dozens of device models.
In 2017, Gaël Duval — the creator of Mandrake Linux (later Mandriva), one of the most popular early Linux distributions — turned his attention to mobile. Duval argued that while Linux had succeeded in giving users control over their desktops, the mobile world was dominated by a duopoly where both options (iOS and Android) funneled user data to Silicon Valley corporations.
Duval launched the /e/ Foundation (originally eelo) with a Kickstarter campaign in 2018, proposing a complete de-Googled Android experience. Not just a ROM without Google Play Services — that had been done — but a full ecosystem replacement. Every Google service would have a privacy-respecting substitute: an /e/ email address, cloud storage, search engine, and app store, all powered by the foundation's infrastructure.
/e/OS is based on LineageOS (and therefore AOSP), but with every Google component stripped out and replaced. The default search engine routes through a privacy proxy. The app store, App Lounge, aggregates apps from F-Droid, the Play Store (via anonymous access), and PWAs. A Privacy Score rates each app's tracking behavior. MicroG provides compatibility with apps that need Google services.
The Murena brand was introduced for phones pre-loaded with /e/OS, including partnerships with Fairphone (the ethical smartphone maker) to sell Fairphone devices with /e/OS pre-installed. The foundation also refurbishes older Samsung Galaxy devices and sells them with /e/OS.
The project represents an ambitious attempt to make digital privacy accessible to non-technical users. Rather than requiring users to flash ROMs and configure everything manually, /e/OS aims to be a ready-to-use private phone experience. Whether this market exists at sufficient scale to sustain the foundation long-term remains the open question.
Gaël Duval announces the /e/ (eelo) project
Kickstarter campaign funds initial development
Murena brand introduced for pre-loaded phones
Partnership with Fairphone to sell pre-loaded privacy phones
“I want a smartphone OS that is open source and respects user privacy.”
/e/OS proved there is a market for turnkey privacy phones, not just enthusiast ROMs. The partnership with Fairphone combining ethical hardware with privacy software represents a unique value proposition in the mobile market. The project also demonstrated that the Mandrake Linux founder's vision of accessible open source extends beyond desktop Linux.