DivertOS Mobile: An alternative focused on privacy and security
After a good time, today we will once again dedicate a new publication to the field of Free or open operating systems for mobiles. Therefore, our post today is dedicated to an interesting and useful alternative known as “DivestOS Mobile”.
DivertOS Mobile is a open source project whose main objective is to prolong the useful life of discontinued devices, improve user privacy and provide a modest increased securitywhenever possible.
And as usual, before entering fully into today's topic on the Operating systems for mobile devices, and more specifically about “DivestOS Mobile”, we will leave for those interested the following links to some previous related posts. In such a way that they can easily explore them, if necessary, after finishing reading this publication:
"The developers of LineageOS (the project that replaced CyanogenMod after the abandonment by Cyanogeno Inc) recently announced that they have already released the new version of LineageOS 18.1 (which is based on Android 11). Version 18.1 was formed without going through 18.0 due to tagging quirks in the repository, plus, it is noted that the LineageOS 18 branch has reached parity in functionality and stability with the 17 branch, and is recognized to be ready for the transition to form the first version". LineageOS 18.1 has already been released and these are its news
DivertOS Mobile: More support with more privacy and security
What is DivOS Mobile?
According to his Official website, this project describes itself as follows:
"DivestOS is a passion project maintained solely by Tad (SkewedZeppelin) since 2014. It has many goals, but primarily: extend the life of discontinued devices, improve user privacy, and provide a modest security boost where possible.".
In addition, Developer clarifies the following regarding your work with DivertOS Mobile:
"The devices that DivertOS supports are not fully free (like in the wild) and there are many security issues that we cannot resolve (proprietary blobs/firmware). We are also fully aware of our “off the rails” approach, however we mainly attribute this to the great efficiency that “80%” solutions provide rather than just hanging around and doing nothing. We sincerely believe that what DivestOS offers is something different from any other project, especially in terms of the scope of the project and our persistence. We hope you find some benefit in our fruits, and we remind you to have fun using it!".
Features
- DivestOS is an unofficial soft fork of LineageOS.
- It has been available since 31/12/2014, when its first custom image was publicly released. Which was based on CyanogenMod 12, and available for just five devices. Meanwhile, a few days later, he already had his first images based on CyanogenMod 12.1 available.
- Currently, it is on version 18.1 that was released on April 3, 2022.
- It has a strong focus on the use of free and open source (FOSS) apps and components.
- It has implemented various operating system and kernel hardening settings, privacy enhancements, and CVE patches.
- Includes automatic deletion of unnecessary proprietary blobs.
- It has the ability to relock the bootloader on supported devices, and a verified boot on supported devices.
- It doesn't have root support, but it always enforces SELinux and uses encryption by default.
- Includes monthly updates, OTA Delta updates, and OTA updates via Tor (optional).
- It comes with F-Droid included.
Furthermore, it is worth noting that in privacy matter, includes: a pGet tracker blocker, a Privacy-oriented web browser based on Firefox, and the app Silence (Silence), which is a fork of Signal for SMS only, which replaces the default AOSP app for this. And finally, in terms of security, among many things, it includes the app Hypatia, which is an open source real-time malware scanner for Android.
For more information on DivertOS Mobile You can visit the following links: GitLab, GitHub, its section of Frequently Asked Questions (Faq) to know more in depth, details about your requirements, and equipment where its use is certified or recommended. And his technical specifications section to deepen its structure and development.
Top 15 free or open operating systems for existing mobiles
- / e / (Eelo)
- AOSP (Android Open Source Project)
- Calyx OS
- Graphene OS
- Kaios (Only partially open source)
- LineageOS
- MoonOS (WebOS)
- Mobian
- Plasma Mobile
- postmarketOS
- PureOS
- Repeat
- Sailfish OS
- Tizen
- Ubuntu Touch
Summary
In summary, “DivestOS Mobile” It is a great alternative to the Operating System for mobile devices of Googlethat is to say Android. Hopefully, it will continue to grow and improve, so that it can be used on more computers, both obsolete and modern. Meanwhile, it offers the user privacy enhancements and fullfilment of security requirements. And in general, also all those alternatives of Mobile Operating Systems, for the benefit of all those who value not only what is free and open, but also privacy, anonymity and better computer security in our devices.
We hope that this publication is very useful for the entire «Comunidad de Software Libre, Código Abierto y GNU/Linux». And don't forget to comment on it below, and share it with others on your favorite websites, channels, groups or communities of social networks or messaging systems. Finally, visit our home page at «DesdeLinux» to explore more news, and join our official channel Telegram from DesdeLinux.