Lineage OS will start from where the Cyanogen left
One of the best custom ROM for Android, CyanogenMOD will be shutting down its services and ending the support for the nightly builds of CyanogenMOD on December 31st,2016. However, the company has not completely killed the Cyanogen as the source code will be made available for anyone who wants to build and develop the CyanogenMOD. CyanogenMOD's code will be used as the base code for the new project. The project is nicknamed as LAOS which stands for Lineage Android Operating System or Lineage OS for short.
Some of the developers of the CyanogenMOD are coming together for the Lineage OS which is said to be a "fork" version of the CyanogenMOD which include Steve Kondik, CTO and Co-Founder of CyanogenMOD. According to Steve's official Google Plus handler, Lineage OS will be more than just rebranding of the CyanogenMOD. "This fork will return to the grassroots community effort that used to define CM while maintaining the professional quality and reliability you have come to expect more recently" said the Cyanogen team.
However, the details on this new project are scarce. There is no information about what is the development plan, what teams are working on this new OS and what devices it's going to support. From the official website of Lineage OS, we only know that the Lineage OS will be a continuation of the Cyanogen OS which powers some major smartphones including the OnePlus series.
The source code of the Cyanogen will be made available for public so that anyone can develop the code. Lineage OS will be built on the Cyanogen foundation and we believe that it will surpass Cyanogen in every aspect such as functionality, usability, features and user interface. However, at this point of time there is no information about the funding and development of the project and when the first beta will be released to the general public.