Android is a brand image of Google, and everyone knows this smartphone operating system. What many are unaware of is that this OS is completely open and anyone can contribute and create their own version.
That’s precisely why Gaël Duval, founder of Mandrake Linux, decided to create his own version of Android, in the image of what many others have already done, leaving out all Google apps.
Although almost all Android smartphones use Google’s version, there are many who have chosen to leave out the search giant’s apps and use alternative versions created by communities that are struggling to adapt these versions for as much hardware as possible.
The well-known creator of Mandrake Linux has decided to embark on a new project and create its own version, the eel. The reasons for this project are simple and are based on the disappointment that Duval has with the software that Google puts in its version.
The eel is still a work in progress and, for now, is just and only a fork of LineageOS, the project that was started by the team that left the CyanogenMod. The commitment seems to be great, and there are even well-defined dates for the different steps ahead.
This new version will set aside Google’s apps, opting for open versions of the major services. Google Maps will be replaced by OpenMaps, NextCloud or OwnCloud should yield Google Drive, and the Play Store will be replaced by F-Droid and APKPure.
For now, the eel is campaigning in the Kickstarter, where its creator intends to raise funds to pay the programmers who will advance the eel and the services that it needs.
This may be another version that avenges the Android universe, but the past has shown that there are few versions that have been maintained and that even these are only a niche and cannot get many users.