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Unless these devices have the ability to update their binary OEM blobs then these cannot be considered secure. This is why alternative OSs like GrapheneOS end t
by kernal 4y ago
Unless these devices have the ability to update their binary OEM blobs then these cannot be considered secure. This is why alternative OSs like GrapheneOS end their support when the Google Pixel is EOL. If you want long term support buy an iPhone or an Android phone that guarantees at least 5 years of security updates.
- _rdvw 4y agoThis is clearly documented see (and also the section above it): https://divestos.org/index.php?page=patch_levels#secure https://divestos.org/index.php?page=patch_levels#secure
- summm 4y agoThat makes it even worse. They apparently do not even try to make it secure and willingly exclude some patches. Reminds me of "security by management risk acceptance"
- _rdvw 4y agoThey? This is my project, it is just me. There is not a single other project that achieves the scope of what DivestOS does for old devices.
- scarface74 4y agoSo now the answer to security is to trust one lone developer? This is more of a statement to the shit show of modern Android. A company worth $1T+ can’t be bothered to figure out how to support devices more than a couple of years and it’s left up to a random developer.
- wizzwizz4 4y ago> They? This is my project, it is just me. "They" has been an acceptable default third-person singular pronoun since at least the 1400s. If there's something you'd prefer, it might be wise to list it on one of your user profile pages.
- alexchantavy 4y agoI don't think the maintainer has a problem with pronoun choice in the sense you're implying - rather it seems that they are trying to emphasize that they are just one person and have limited time/resources
- wizzwizz4 4y agoYeah, that's clear given the context of who replied to whom. I somehow missed that summm was replying to SubzeroCarnage; in light of the context, what was meant to be me being lightheartedly pedantic comes across as a weird and preachy derail. (Shame Hacker News doesn't let one delete things.)
- _rdvw 4y agoThe comment was in direct response to me, but not addressed to me, so it was they as in "project members" (which there are none).
- IshKebab 4y agoRight but you didn't say you were the project author anywhere so how would they have known that?
- kikokikokiko 4y agoSince the 1400s my arse. It's just an annoying trend among woke evangelists, and makes the english language uglier while conveying less information about the subject in question.
- stratosmacker 4y agoDon't bother with the naysayers and dickheads. I appreciate you trying to do something here for old devices, and 80% solutions are ok for most of us. (I suppose postmarketOS is similar in spirit) Does building a GSI make sense to cover more devices? Or would that not make sense in this context?
- _rdvw 4y agoTwo of the benefits of DivestOS, the kernel patching/hardening and the vendor blob removal, are not compatible with GSIs as a GSI includes neither the boot or vendor partition.
- nix23 4y agoHey, just thank you very much for revitalizing my Nexus 5, it's a usable device again ;) Great Job and project, thanks again!
- kernal 4y agoThe title states "Long-term support for end-of-life Android devices". This "long term support" does not extend beyond cherry picked AOSP security patches and does not address the security issues in the drivers of these devices.
- _rdvw 4y agoBut it does what it can. It patches the system, the kernels, adds many hardening features, provides updated browser engines, and removes the proprietary unpatchable components that it can. This is all well documented on the website, please read through it.
- russianGuy83829 4y agoWhat would you suggest for using MicroG on a DOS-supported device? I see built-in support was removed in 18.1. Could just the DOS kernel be used with the official microg-lineageos on top?
- _rdvw 4y agomicroG was never supported in DivestOS. You can get a fair bit of benefit from using the boot.img like you say, but it will only go so far. While I wouldn't recommend it, there are flashable ZIP images of microG, but it'd be at the downsides noted here: https://divestos.org/index.php?page=faq#rootSupport https://divestos.org/index.php?page=faq#rootSupport
- forgotmypw17 4y agoSecurity isn't everything. Sometimes just having a working device you can use to access information takes priority. Not everyone can buy a device.
- jlkuester7 4y agoExactly! If security is your highest priority, buy a new Pixel and put GrapheneOS on it. But if you have an EOL device, DivestOS seems to be an amazing alternative to just staying on the stock firmware that is not going to get any updates at all.
- ccouzens 4y agoDon't forget that even supported phones can have unpatchable hardware bugs. For example checkm8 back in 2019.
- bpye 4y agoAt least that required hardware access. If you had an exploitable bug in say some GPU firmware, then you'd realistically need to disable accelerated graphics everywhere no?
- my123 4y agoGPU firmware is not a security boundary on the vast majority of hardware. With app to GPU communication being mediated by the kernel.