Android is one operating system that has given benefits to many developers and tinkerers, and that is by allowing them to install custom ROMs.
Since the early days of the platform, this ability has given Android an advantage over its competitors, mainly Apple's iOS. And it has done so for years.
As the selection of ROMs has changed over the years, CyanogenMod has been supporting most Android devices by introducing custom features to them. However, CyanogenMod is no more.
Its commercial entity, Cyanogen, has also ended its work on the Android ROM because business wasn't working as intended. CyanogenMod's servers were then turned offline.
Since the fate of the open-source ROMs is tied up with the Cyanogen, it has attempted to build a for-profit version of CyanogenMod that would be sold to device makers. But Steve Kondik that was one of the founders of Cyanogen Inc, has left the company as it began disintegrating.
It was apparent that the Cyanogen is leaving the open-source community and contributors with a dilemma about their fate. However, Kondik and other developers involved with the Cyanogen project, continued their work with the spirit of CyanogenMod.
And the result is Lineage OS, CyanogenMod's successor.
CyanogenMod is based on Android and fully open-sourced. This way, it wasn't difficult to create a new fork to boost the project. Lineage OS picks up where CyanogenMod left off (version 14.1 for Android 7.1 Nougat and 13.0 stands for Marshmallow 6.0).
Among the reasons many people installed CyanogenMod on their phones, rather than the original Android by Google, was because of its increased flexibility and additional features compared to Google's. And by continuing CyanogenMod's legacy, Lineage OS shares CyanogenMod's goals.
Lineage OS and the latest version of CyanogenMod have features that are mostly the same, with the exception of some of the cloud services that were connected to the now non-existent servers.
With a new brand, Lineage OS comes with its own logo. In its first release, the operating system is only supporting a limited number of devices, such as the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, OnePlus One, Moto G4, and a few other phones. The operating system is targeting to support 80+ devices in the near future.
One of the strengths of CyanogenMod came from its extensive device support, and this is also what Lineage OS is aiming.
With the release of Lineage OS, people who don't want to give up their favorite Android flavor may rejoice. "Yes, this is us. We aren't going anywhere," said Lineage OS on its website.