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Comment by ForHackernews | Hacker News Reader

/e/ is a great idea, but it really leaves a sour taste in my mouth how the /e/ foundation hides the contributions of the free software projects they rely on.

https://microg.org/ is the core that makes it possible to create the /e/ distribution, but good luck finding that in any of /e/'s promotional material.

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In July, /e/ said that they were funding the MicroG developer. The blog on their website appears to be down, but here is a copy of their press release:

https://oldwww.e.foundation/e-foundation-announces-official-...

MicroG also accepts donations through Liberapay and GitHub Sponsors, if you want to contribute directly:

https://liberapay.com/microG/

https://github.com/sponsors/mar-v-in

I guess better late than never, but after 2+ years of people complaining about this they announce it on 'oldwww'?

Weak sauce, if you ask me. But you're right, they do mention it.

From the FAQ: "/e/ is forked from LineageOS. We’ve modified several parts of the system (and we’re just getting started): installation procedure, settings organization, default settings. We’ve disabled and/or removed any software or services that were sending personal data to Google (for instance, the default search engine is no longer Google). We’ve integrated microG by default, have replaced some of the default applications, and modified others. We have added a synchronization background software service that syncs multimedia contents (pictures, videos, audio, files…) and settings to a cloud drive, when activated."

MicroG is mentioned a lot as a part of /e/ check https://e.foundation/get-started/ Does /e/ = Lineage OS + MicroG?

Searching for microg, excluding gitlab and the forum, returns over 1100 results (with google):

site:e.foundation -site:community.e.foundation -site:gitlab.e.foundation "microg"

References to LineageOS (which /e/ is a fork of) and microG can be found on their "Getting Started" page [1]. I wouldn't call that "hiding". Also, don't they fund microG development since a couple of weeks?

I too am critical towards /e/ because I think that they have done very little own work for now. But hiding their reliance on other OSS projects isn't something I'd call them out for.

[1]: https://e.foundation/get-started/

They were removing LineageOS headers from files and when called out just added "and others" instead.

for what little work they did, they created a much more polished experience compared to lineageOS. i have been using both, and the difference is noticeable.

that and effectively auditing the android for google dependencies and privacy violations, i think are already a quite substantial contribution.

it is also worth considering how many resources it took to achieve that, so i think it's unfair to say they didn't do much as if anyone with a few weekends to spare could have achieved the same.

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