The best part about Android is choice, there are plenty of de-corporatised, bloatware free, open source and privacy friendly ROMS to choose from. And I disagree with the idea that degoogleing android is near impossible, installing a privacy friendly custom ROM is relatively easy and there are plenty of simple to follow guides out there. Plus device support is only getting better and better with LineageOS supporting a huge amount of devices. It’s also not true that there is no real alternative to Android other than iOS, there are multiple mobile GNU/Linux distros that you can install on your phone, some companies even sell phones with GNU/Linux preinstalled. Overall, most of the time Android is bad because most android users are using a version of Android with proprietary spyware and bloatware installed, but it can be great.
I like your optimism but unfortunately custom ROMs support is selective at best. Creating a new port for e.g. LineageOS is a challenging process that can potentially brick your device, so many ports focus on devices already out of sale. And mobile GNU/Linux is still rare, at least in Europe. If you happen to have a device that is not supported by either a custom Android ROM or mobile GNU/Linux, then you have no option than to stick with what you have (unless you have enough knowledge to add the support yourself).
You are correct, most people are using devices that will not work with any custom ROM or GNU/Linux distro. At least if you are searching for a new phone there are plenty of options (as long as you plan on installing LineageOS, other custom ROM’s like Calyx and Graphene have a long way to go). Let’s just hope device support improves in the future.
The best part about Android is choice, there are plenty of de-corporatised, bloatware free, open source and privacy friendly ROMS to choose from. And I disagree with the idea that degoogleing android is near impossible, installing a privacy friendly custom ROM is relatively easy and there are plenty of simple to follow guides out there. Plus device support is only getting better and better with LineageOS supporting a huge amount of devices. It’s also not true that there is no real alternative to Android other than iOS, there are multiple mobile GNU/Linux distros that you can install on your phone, some companies even sell phones with GNU/Linux preinstalled. Overall, most of the time Android is bad because most android users are using a version of Android with proprietary spyware and bloatware installed, but it can be great.
I like your optimism but unfortunately custom ROMs support is selective at best. Creating a new port for e.g. LineageOS is a challenging process that can potentially brick your device, so many ports focus on devices already out of sale. And mobile GNU/Linux is still rare, at least in Europe. If you happen to have a device that is not supported by either a custom Android ROM or mobile GNU/Linux, then you have no option than to stick with what you have (unless you have enough knowledge to add the support yourself).
You are correct, most people are using devices that will not work with any custom ROM or GNU/Linux distro. At least if you are searching for a new phone there are plenty of options (as long as you plan on installing LineageOS, other custom ROM’s like Calyx and Graphene have a long way to go). Let’s just hope device support improves in the future.
Amen to that, comrade. Especially for mobile Linux.