A developer that developed Mandrake Linux in 1998 has developed an open source smartphone OS focusing more on user data privacy. The project name is Project Eelo that provides data privacy Android and iOS devices failed to provide.
Gaël Duval, the founder of project Eelo shared his project idea on kickstarter to raise fund for the project and to hire more developers to work on it. The eelo project will provide an alternative mobile operating system and associated web-services, including email, cloud storage, and online office tools. eelo is an open source, non-profit project, in the public interest.
“Since then, the smartphone has emerged. And it’s now a “companion of life” for many of us. But I realized this year that I was using an iPhone, a Mac and Google services more and more. I realized that I had become lazy and that my data privacy had vanished.” He said — “And I’m definitely not happy with that situation. I’m not happy with this situation because iOS is proprietary and I prefer open-source Software. I’m not happy because Apple is going crazy with their latest products. They are more and more expensive, and not really exciting.”
He was also not happy with Google because it uses lots of our data to sell the advertisement and that is the big concern for him. According to him he don’t wanted to be a product for Google and he wanted to stop this.
But at the same time, the alternatives that exist at the moment don’t exactly fit my needs. First of all, I don’t want to use stock Android: it’s Google everywhere and I don’t like its default user interface. There are other initiatives too that fall short of what I’m after. I want something consistent and comfortable to use, like iOS or MacOS are. I want something I could recommend to my parents or my children. And I want something that respects my privacy.
The project name eelo was derived from the eels fishes that can hide in the sea. That’s perfect for more privacy.
“I want eelo to be a non-profit project, a project “in the public interest”. I strongly believe operating systems and web services should be a shared resource: as I explained a few years ago, they are infrastructure – just like phone networks, rail tracks, and roads.” Duval Added — “Non-profit doesn’t mean nothing will be for sale. We envisage selling preloaded eelo smartphones, and providing premium services for corporates. But profit won’t be eelo’s primary focus.”
Duval tested first custom build on LeEco Le2 with nice 5.5″ smartphone with a 1080×1920 pixel screen, 3GB RAM, 32GB storage, finger sensor in the back, and a 4K camera. And waiting for Xiaomi Mi 5S to test on smaller screen as well as LG G6. You can also suggest some devices to test on.
