DivestOS

DivestOS is a free operating system (OS) based on the Android mobile platform. It is a soft fork of LineageOS that aims to increase security and privacy, and support older devices. As much as possible it removes proprietary Android components and includes only free-software.

DivestOS
DeveloperTad
OS familyAndroid (Linux)
Working stateCurrent
Source modelOpen source
Initial release31 December 2014 (2014-12-31)
Repositorygitlab.com/divested-mobile
Marketing targetPrivacy/Security-focused smartphones
Update methodOver-the-air (OTA) or locally
Package manager
PlatformsARM
Kernel typeMonolithic (Linux)
LicenseGPL
Official websitedivestos.org

DivestOS builds are signed with release-keys so bootloaders may be re-locked on many devices. An automated CVE patcher is used to patch the kernels against many known vulnerabilities.

DivestOS includes few default applications. F-Droid is included with options for selecting several custom F-Droid repositories as well.[1][2] DivestOS supports using Orbot and Tor Browser as privacy-enhancing features.[3]

History

The DivestOS project began in 2014, with the first properly signed builds being released in 2015.[4]

The project is the work of one primary developer with contributions from numerous other developers.[2]

Public release of DivestOS was announced on F-Droid forums in June 2020.[5]

Supported devices

DivestOS primarily supports devices that have been supported by LineageOS.[6]

Reception

In February 2022, Avoid the hack reviewed DivestOS' Mull browser and said it had several notable features including privacy hardening, and elimination of many proprietary blobs.[7] TechTracker.in said DivestOS is one of few custom ROMs focusing on security and privacy, with monthly and incremental updates.[8]

DivestOS was included in AlternativeTo in December 2021.[9] GNU/Linux.ch Linux and Freie Software News called DivestOS "relatively new and ambitious" and said it supports many devices, both newer and older.[10]

DevsJournal called DivestOS 18.1 one of the best custom ROMs for the One Plus One phone.[11]

DivestOS' Hypatia malware scanner for Android, and how to use their F-Droid repository, was reviewed by Gadget Hacks in March 2021.[12] In November 2021, the Kuketz Security blog said Hypatia was the only malware scanner without tracking libraries of several they reviewed, but said its functionality was limited.[13]

In December 2020 the Replicant project gave credit to DivestOS for finding a proprietary library existing in Replicant,[14] and DivestOS is listed as a project Replicant would be interested in collaborating with more.[15]

DivestOS' F-Droid repositories are listed in F-Droid's "Known Repositories" list.[16]

DivestOS is included in LWN.net list of "embedded distributions".[17]

In March 2023, the 2022 Free Software Foundation Award for Outstanding New Free Software Contributor went to Tad (SkewedZeppelin), chief developer of the DivestOS project.[18][19]

See also

References
  1. "DivestOS Mobile". divestos.org. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  2. "About - DivestOS Mobile". divestos.org. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  3. "Privacy Policy - DivestOS Mobile". divestos.org. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
  4. "History - DivestOS Mobile". divestos.org. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  5. "DivestOS: long term device support with enhanced privacy and security". F-Droid Forum. 12 June 2020. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  6. "Devices - DivestOS Mobile". divestos.org. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  7. avoidthehack! (17 February 2022). "Our 5 Best Privacy Browser Picks for Android | avoidthehack!". testserver.avoidthehack.com. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  8. "DivestOS - best Android OS custom rom for privacy and security". Tech Tracker. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  9. "DivestOS, A mobile operating system divested from the norm".
  10. "Freie Fahrt für freie Androiden!". 23 December 2021. Archived from the original on 23 December 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  11. "Best Custom ROMs for OnePlus One (Bacon) - DevsJournal". 26 July 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  12. "4 New & Noteworthy Indie Android Apps of the Week — March 26 Edition". Gadget Hacks. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  13. Kuketz. "Trügerische Sicherheit: Virenscanner-Apps sind schlichtweg überflüssig (Deceptive security: virus scanner apps are simply superfluous)". Kuketz IT Security.
  14. "packages_apps_Contacts - Unnamed repository; edit this file 'description' to name the repository". git.replicant.us. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  15. "Upstream - Replicant". redmine.replicant.us. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
  16. "Known Repositories". F-Droid Forum. 8 May 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  17. "LWN Distributions List". static.lwn.net. Retrieved 16 June 2022.
  18. "Free Software Awards winners announced: Eli Zaretskii, Tad (SkewedZeppelin), GNU Jami — Free Software Foundation — Working together for free software". www.fsf.org. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  19. Dee, Katie (20 March 2023). "The recipients of the 2022 Free Software Awards have been announced". SD Times. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
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