To be honest, you have to be kind of a geek just to use it. So if you’re unable to install it, you’ll probably have a hard time using it. Joe Average ordering a phone without Google services would cause countless support requests along the lines of “how do I install games” and so on.
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Yes, I forgot to say that pre-installed Open OS must come with replacements at least for Google Play Store (F-Droid + Yalp Store), Google search (DuckduckGo), Google Maps (OsmAnd) and Google Drive for sync and backup (Nextcloud on an ethical server).
I noticed that the two companies that are starting to distribute phones with an free/open source OS pre-installed, i.e. the e.foundation (/e/OS) and Puri.sm (PureOS on Librem) have had the good idea to integrate an ecosystem of services (just like Google does) that includes - or will include - at least a mail ID and a sync-backup app (and more see https://librem.one/).
I think that is the way to go to offer to the general public an OS that “just works out of the box” as they expect it.
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There are no hardware kill switches on the device. If that is important for you, I recommend the Librem 5 instead. Although it isn’t a fair phone, it is a FOSS phone. The software is all FOSS, even the firmware. It has its pros and cons compared to Fairphone 3. Because they’re using NXP i.MX I expect it not be a quick smartphone. I see it more as a successor of the Nokia Maemo world, as they go for a Linux desktop-esque environment with full FOSS stack and such.
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This official support article is a little less optimistic:
https://support.fairphone.com/hc/en-us/articles/360032971751-Operating-systems-OS-for-the-Fairphone-3
The Fairphone 3 enables the possibility to install alternative operating systems, so we are currently investigating if we can bring back FP Open.
Given Fairphone’s track record of things they have been “investigating”, you might want to wait for a FP Open release before ordering a FP3 (if a GMS-free phone is important to you)…
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Indeed it would be quite disappointing if there would be no Fairphone Open. I am still happy with my FP2 with Fairphone Open and beside being the fairest phone available the opensource option would be a strong reason to choose FP3 as a successor in one or two years.
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Whilst I like the idea of FPOOS (or whatever the acronym is) it won’t be taken up by many people if it’s not easy to use and if it doesn’t come pre-installed. Therefore, is it really worth FP putting effort into making this for the FP3, or should they focus their efforts somewhere they can make more impact and partner with other organisations which specialise in non-Google OSes?
I think that’s where /e/OS is such an intriguing possibility. It’s still Android, so is still able to run almost all of the apps that people will want, but it has been de-Googled - even more so than FPOOS, which just doesn’t have GApps (as far as I am aware). /e/ are going deep into the Android code and removing anything which does any communication with Google services of any kind. In addition /e/ is being designed from the beginning as easy to use for the general public - I think Gael Duval (who you may remember from Mandrake Linux) says he wants his parents or grandparents to be able to use it! /e/OS also comes with privacy-respecting and FLOSS online services - email, storage, etc. So it really is a full replacement for Google Android.
I’m sure that /e/ would take on the development of official support for the FP3 if it could be available as an option at checkout to buy with /e/OS ready installed. Whatever FP currently pays to Google for the licence to ship with GApps will probably be happily accepted by /e/ to provide the same services! Maybe /e/ could even rebrand /e/OS with FP branding? “Fairphone Open OS by /e/”?
Other options like Sailfish, UT, etc are all very interesting as well, and I’m sure that some people would buy the FP3 with one of these preloaded, but it would be a lot harder sell to the most of the public than /e/OS.
However, the OS which I would like to see /e/ work most closely with is postmarketOS (pmOS), the OS that aims for a 10 year life for a phone. This is much more in line with FP’s goals than any of the above options. However, to get pmOS support will be much harder as it really needs open source drivers, which I highly doubt the FP3 will have…
…but then what exactly did FP mean by posting this article? https://medium.com/@Fairphone/beyond-software-the-open-source-mentality-b23ba8bc8e34
Hmmm 
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@madbilly You are spot on.
A Fairphone can only be really Fair, if they can (and actually do) provide AT LEAST an option to have only software installed that is open and free, instead of what is happening now: Buyers are, once again, kept ignorant and forced into the trap of that commercial spying company, and not motivated or even informed of the option that today’s life, with the number one ‘Basic Need’, can be lived comfortably without Goolag - or Apple, for that matter, but that’s obviously besides the point of a Fairphone/Android.
Sure, a phone should work conveniently for the average user, and even for my mother - who isn’t even close, the sweetheart… And therefore, /e/ is indeed a good idea. GrapheneOS, Copperhead, even LineageOS would be alright, too. As long as those unwanted, hateful and unnecessary GApps are completely gone.
Me too, I have no illusion that the drivers of the Fairphone 3 will be open source. If they were, Replicant and the Free Software Foundation would be dancing non-stop for a week, right now, and probably much longer. Wishful thinking…
As far as I am concerned, the Fairphone 3 is only Fair regarding the hardware. Ethically, the software also must be Fair. Until then, indeed:
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Speaking of pmOS, someone is porting nixOS (via postmarketOS code) to mobile phone:
(Bonus points for avatar 
)
The reason this is interesting, is that nixOS is an interesting and different OS. I’ll quote from Wikipedia
This allows you to easily: have multiple versions of the same software package installed, rollback versions or parts of the OS. If you use it on a PC with say Grub, you get all these entries like snapshots in your Grub boot manager (akin to ZFS snapshots, I suppose).
In my opinion one of the more interesting advancements in the Linux / FOSS ecosystem.
Now, as for /e/, the way I see it is just an alternative for LineageOS + microG. The latter isn’t an official project by LineageOS; it isn’t even hosted on their website.
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IMHO an “alternative”, but also different. It comes with a preinstalled app store and as mentioned by @madbilly some tweaks in the code have been done to reduce google communication…
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I just read their FAQ and it said there is only one proprietary application (I don’t know which one?). Their website is currently down for me though, so its a bit difficult to quote from it.
Edited to add:
Yes – all source code is available and you can compile it, fork it… Some prebuilt applications are used in the system; they are built separately from source code available here, or synced from open-source repositories such as F-Droid. We ship one proprietary application though (read the statement).
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Last I heard that was the maps app.
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I think it would be better to not bring back FP Open but instead support Lineage OS with similar or even a bit less person power and knowledge.
I really like the idea of free (open source) software, but i still don’t think it is a good idea to mix the terms fairness and open source. I don’t think fairness necessary requires open source.
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Fair enough, you’re entitled to your own opinion, by all means. Thank you for adding it to the discussion.
But my point is not so much about fairness as a requirement for open source, as it is about the UNfairness of forcing buyers into the trap of bloody Goolag - forgive me, I can’t help myself calling the company by its proper name…
What I do mean to point out: If it would offer a more ethical OS with free and open software immediately at launch date, preferably as a default even, Fairphone (claiming to be an ethical organisation, after all) wouldn’t be missing out on a great opportunity to set itself truly apart from the mainstream phone companies by advertising/informing their clients in advance, of course with the obvious reasoning for such a necessity/choice, and by suggesting very viable alternatives to what should be considered one of the causes of the end of our former Free World with its illusion of Democracy. No less. A shame and a missed, rare chance.
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I would like a Google-free OS as well.
Still I do not expect that this would really be a feature helping to sell lots of phones.
If I remember some info correct, about 5 % of the Fairphones were on a free OS. And that was while they were selling their phones to a great extent to tech addicts, that loved doing experiments with their phone. To people sticking to a phone that is rebooting frequently, that makes them change modules in regular intervals etc.
I can’t count how often I have read twrp in this forum and explanations what to do in twrp etc. I even don’t remember what this stands for and I am fairly interested in stuff like that.
To cut it short:
In my opinion FP has only that many resources to spend and they are doing well in spending them on someting lots of people want (i.e. a reliable phone, instant support etc.).
Maintaining another OS would be - at least for now - stretching it thin and risking to lose it all in the end.
Right now, it looks promising, that they aim and are working on supporting other OSs like Lineage. Therefore, if you want it, you most likely can get it someday soon.
The majority - I fear - will stick to the likes of Alexa, Siri and a “smart” home. And they will do so wilfully. I am not sure, if I would call this the end of freedom or democracy, but that’s a completely different (politial) topic I surely will not discuss on this forum.
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Having a G##gle-free factory supported system is one of the main reasons I bought not one but two FP2s. So for now I’ll stick with them, and FP3 won’t be on my list in the future unless a G##gle-free system becomes officially supported.
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The Fairphone 2 came out in December 2015.
Fairphone Open OS for the Fairphone 2 was released April 28, 2016.
Just saying.
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Hi @gcrl great to hear that we both agree we’d like a complete de-googled, privacy respecting OS on our Fairphone 
However, Fairphones objectives are about fairness for the workers in the supply chain and minimising environmental impact. That’s what they are experts at, that’s where they add value and that’s what I think they should continue to focus on.
I do not want Fairphone to develop in-house an alternative, de-Googled OS, because there are plenty of options already available from organisations which are specialists at this. Fairphone should pick the one which is closest to their ideals and partner with them; I’m sure it will end up as a win-win for both.
@JeroenH NixOS looks interesting, thanks for the links they were good to read. Unfortunately is it not yet ready for use buy the general public (and would still need a UX/DE like Unity or Plasma Mobile anyway). However, I strongly hope that pmOS can get get decent support on the FP3. The holy grail would be everything supported in mainline, but I know that’s not realistic.
However there is much more to /e/ than you give them credit for. They differ from LineageOS in many ways, such as:
- It is LineageOS + MicroG + even more degoogling. LineageOS is not really about degoogling, it’s just a custom ROM. MicroG replaces Google Play Services. /e/ has gone even further and removed every last bit of communication with Google that it can find (e.g. the built-in DNS, NTP servers, IIRC).
- It’s aim is to be user-friendly, accessible to the vast majority of the general public, not only tech-enthusiasts etc. They still have some way to go on this, however.
- They provide online services too, because degoogling is more than just removing Google from the OS, people need privacy respecting cloud service alternatives as well. Whilst some people with the technical capability may be happy to self-host, e/e recognise that the vast majority of people have no interest in this, but still want privacy respecting email, calendar, storage, etc. IMO these services are a major differentiator and improvement over LineageOS, FPOOS, or any other custom ROM.
There is the one proprietary app, Magic Earth I think. I don’t know why they include it as there are totally adequate FLOSS alternatives available, e.g. Maps on F-Droid is a maintained fork of Maps.me, which is itself open source anyway. A lot of the design decisions come down to the preferences of Gael (like the iOS-like Bliss launcher) so maybe he just likes Magic Earth and wants to continue using it.
Anyway, one proprietary app is nothing compared to what is in LineageOS, IIRC.
In my mind, if you’re technically capable, LineageOS might be of interest to you, but to me /e/ provides so much more that LineageOS isn’t worth considering anymore.
Cheers
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F-Droid is not really an alternative to the Play Store, as important Open Source Apps like AndrOpen Office (the only OSS implementation of an office suite) are missing, and the search is evem worse than the search on the Play Store (which is bad, especially seen that the company behind became big with a search engine), Yalp Store is using the Play Store , DuckduckGo is using Google search, OSMAnd is not really a Google Maps replacement (it is of course even better for biking and hiking, but worse for cars, as no traffic info is included, and it misses a satellite view, which would be available for free like ESRI); for sync and backup I personally recommend the OSS MyPhoneExplorer, which even does not use a cloud;
I support OSS as much as I can, and have installed mostly OSS on my FP2; but unfortunately for some of my needs there are no OSS alternatives (please correct me if I am wrong), like reading business cards and converting them into contacts (I use CamCard), or storing pictures as PDF documents (I use CamScanner).
I well understand the need for an operating system not controlled by a single company; such an OS is at least important to limit the power of this company (I would love to see an alternative to iOS); FairPhone offered such an OS, and seen the philosophy of the company, a really free OS for the FP3 is vital; however, it is questionable to me whether it should come pre-installed.
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@madbilly Sure, Fairphone’s ethics are wonderful. I applaud them for this, praise them highly, and would be the last one to criticise them on that!
But they could and should have improved their software strategy, I think, if they take their own ethics and their buyers seriously. Indeed, the best way would be to partner with their favourite OS developers and not develop their own OS, but it is (was) essential to do this before a new phone release; hire someone knowledgeable, famous in the field even, who is, PR-wise, very well able to explain the necessity plus advantages of such a direction, focus on the primary, (more) free OS - and, if they really must, offer the ‘old’ and ethically totally wrong option as a secondary choice for customers who are just too stubborn (or worse 
). Using solely free and open software (or at least as much as is reasonably possible) is after all much more important than believing that one’s life becomes impossible without an app that converts business cards and adds them to one’s contacts list (just one example, obviously). All for the benefit of (I don’t like the word, but…: education and general awareness of) their clientele and to do another right thing for the world.
Indeed, and that’s what I mean by a missed chance.
Again, it’s all besides the great things Fairphone already do accomplish!
Have a good one!
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Sure many of the OSS have their drawbacks, but, for obvious reasons, so does commercially licensed software. Some things just depend on what freedom or privacy you’re prepared to sacrifice because of convenience.
Shortcoming of OSM not having traffic, does not outweigh the advantages it has. But in case one needs the traffic info: before leaving, check the traffic with Maps. Set the alternative route, if required, in OSMAnd. Done. Repeat once in a while in case you’re on the road for a longer time (hours of driving).
If you don’t prefer DuckDuckGo, why don’t you consider Qwant ? Or if you want to bring ecology in the equation, Ecosia ?
I would advice to stay far away from CamsCanner (see the tech news of the past few days…) and opt for Open Note Scanner (available in F-Droid).
It would be wise for Fairphone to join /e/ instead of pursuing FPOOS for FP3. As such Fairphone would achieve the same goals (open alternative OS on their device) with the added value of privacy controls. And at the same time, their contributions to /e/, if any, will be beneficial for all instead of just FP3.
The same applies to the Purism and their Librem 5, for that matter. These guys are developing their own distribution instead of joining and contributing to /e/.
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