Droidian is a Debian-based Linux distribution designed primarily for smartphones that originally shipped with Android. Its goal is to provide a conventional Debian environment on mobile hardware while retaining access to device-specific Android components required for features such as graphics, audio, cameras and telephony.
The distribution uses technologies including Halium and libhybris to bridge GNU/Linux software with Android hardware abstraction layers and proprietary vendor components. This approach enables Droidian to support hardware for which fully mainline Linux drivers are not available. Droidian builds on work from Mobian and integrates Debian packages with its own mobile-specific packages and adaptations.
Droidian uses Phosh as its mobile interface. Phosh is a Wayland-based shell designed for touch-operated, battery-powered devices with small displays. Applications from the wider Debian ecosystem can therefore be used alongside software specifically designed for mobile form factors.
Key Features
- Uses Halium and libhybris to access Android hardware components and vendor drivers.
- Provides the Phosh touch-oriented Wayland interface.
- Uses Debian’s APT package management infrastructure.
- Supports device-specific adaptation packages for integrating kernels, firmware and hardware configuration.
- Provides fastboot-flashable and recovery-flashable installation images.
- Supports full-disk encryption with compatible fastboot installation images.
- Includes support for common smartphone functionality such as telephony, audio, power management and hardware acceleration where supported by the individual device port.
- Provides tooling and documentation for developers who want to port Droidian to additional Android devices.
| Working state: | Active |
| Desktop: | Phosh |
| Init Software: | systemd |
| Package Management: | APT |
| Release Model: | Snapshot-based |
| Platforms: | arm64, armhf, amd64 |
| Home Page: | droidian.org |
| Developer: | Droidian Project |
| This article is part of our Big List of Active Linux Distributions. |
What's a Linux distribution ("distro")? |
| A distro provides the user with a desktop environment, preloaded applications, and ways to update and maintain the system. Each distro makes different choices, deciding which open source projects to install and provides custom written programs. They can have different philosophies. Some distros are intended for desktop computers, some for servers without a graphical interface, and others for special uses. Because Linux is an open source operating system, combinations of software vary between Linux distros. |
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