the_weez

Nah. If it’s a choice between GrapheneOS on a pixel or an iPhone I’d take my chances with the pixel.

Why? Not trying to be a dick about it, I just want to hear your justification. Thanks.

That’s probably true and totally fair. I’ve heard good things about Ghost lately. Personally I’m looking into SSG’s for a new blog, a bit of setup but after that I really like the workflow. I’m trying out Zola right now. Good luck!

Only most of us. Please send help.

I fully believe that combination works well. I also fully believe that if you asked a random person off the street to trade in their smartphone for two devices that only have partial functionality you would get told to go F yourself. I don’t think it’s a ‘valid’ option in 2025, and I would love to know what the average person on the street would say if they actually hear you out on all the benefits. I’m a ‘tech enthusiast’ I guess and a long time FOSS lover. I have been daily driving Linux for over 15 years at this point. I’m not sure if I would put up with two half-phones in my pockets all day everyday, and I know my friends would laugh at the idea. I almost purchased a PinePhone on more than a few orders from the Pine store but I keep holding off for thing to become stable enough to use the phone as a phone.

Nobody cares if you care about ads. The largest companies humanity have ever known are ADtech businesses.

You completely missed my point because of your apple hatred, literally the definition of a fanboy. I have never owned an apple product but I’m not going to deny the reality of the situation to justify my past purchases.

This trend started waaaay before 2012. When I graduated highschool the only computer class that was offered was a basic MS Office and advanced MS office. The people making these type of decisions for public schools are rarely tech literate themselves, they physically cannot make an informed choice. This will not be resolved until big tech is dissolved, or strong regulations are pushed by the voting population. If anyone wants their children to be tech literate I recommend getting your kids in front of a keyboard and mouse instead of a touchscreen as early as you would allow them to use a tablet. The tablet will be easier for both of you, and that’s exactly what they want.

Linux on a mobile phone? Which device? Which Distribution? What works 'pretty well? What doesn’t work all that well?

I’m reading this as Apple fixed your refurbished phone like you asked them to. I do not see how you should be entitled to extra warranty because of this, or any other compensation. I can assure you that Google would also not extend your warranty for an issue of this nature. My friend is dealing with pixel warranty support as we speak and it sure as hell doesn’t sound any better. I totally understand ‘writing off’ a company after you feel personally wronged by them, but I wasn’t including warranty issues on refurbished phones in my requirements for my next mobile device. You asked what the alternative is and realistically that’s the only one for 99.99% of the population.

Isn’t that just Google with an extra MITM for everything? Sure it protects your privacy a little bit but the same bad actors are still getting their ad revenue from your searches, correct? Or do I just not understand how start page works?

That’s super cool for you. If I didn’t work in IT I might try to achieve something similar. But honestly suggesting that the average person on the street go back in time almost 20 years in regards to their mobile device is just going to get you laughed out of the room. Do you use mobile banking? Do you carry a camera around with you at all times? Do you listen to music? For me music is a big one, I’m not listening to any god damned radio commercials and I don’t have CD player in my car anymore. How would you entertain yourself on a long car ride alone in this scenario? Do you have any IoT or smart home devices? How do you interact with them? I know a few people that are a bit older than me that don’t ‘get’ smartphones but then use a tablet on the couch pretty often. My uncle doesn’t have a smartphone, and is kinda smug about it, but also doesn’t really leave the house without his android tablet. I guess if you don’t actually want to do any computing on the go a dumb phone is fine for short texts and phone calls, but finding one that works with 5G is another challenge these days.

Google maps was exactly like that before it became the defacto navigation software for most of the planet and we all started answering innocent little questions for our new overlords. I really feel like OSM is on the verge of becoming top tier, we just need a bit more momentum to push it there. And unlike their competitors, it’s highly unlikely you will see anything in any media publication to push users towards them. Google had multiple ad campaigns for maps before it replaced things like Garmin GPS and in car GPS. Garmin and TomTom sold millions of dedicated GPS devices before Google killed their business model.

That’s pretty cool, I didn’t know about that app before you brought it up. Downloaded already!

And that’s the point of my question, and this change. Trump feels like he won, because he took something away from Mexico.

You cannot purchase a Pixel without positively affecting Google’s profit margins. It’s not possible, you own a pixel you are a Google phone owner. If you are a Google phone owner you count towards their user counts, which directly affects the price they can negotiate for their ad business. The larger their userbase is, the more they can charge. The more ad business they get the more leverage they have. It doesn’t matter that you block everything from Google at that point. It doesn’t matter that you purchased your phone from somebody other than Google, regardless of the new/used condition. You can never interact with Google in any way shape or form, but the fact that you own a Google phone is giving them more leverage and more power. I know I’m getting down votes all over this thread for holding this position, I don’t care and I think it’s important for people to be honest with themselves. Graphene might be a great option, it might even be the best option today from a privacy standpoint, but it doesn’t mean that there aren’t huge issues with buying a phone from Google to get it. It also doesn’t mean that the entire android community should give up on making something that works on non-Google devices, which is unfortunately how I feel at this point. If you don’t want to buy a pixel then the Android community is almost completely worthless in 2025. And at that point I might as well run an iPhone. I’m not trying to say anyone is a bad person for making these choices. ‘There is no ethical consumption under capitalism’. I’m saying that my choice going forward is to not give that company any more money or power if I can help it. And the most effective way I can do that is to not purchase anything they have their hands in.

I’m also not claiming that the other options are good either, but at this point it’s becoming harder for me to ignore this crap.

You should probably do some research on WordPress before migrating. Personally I wouldn’t touch WordPress with somebody else’s 10ft pole right now, the drama is an extreme turnoff. I’ve tried every AI chat bot except Automattics because I’m not interested in their games. Plenty of other great blogging platforms to choose from.

Question for all non-US natives. When somebody tells you they are from America do you think the continent or the USA?

US public education computer literacy is dead, and it’s not going to get better for at least 5+ years, best case scenario. Even if the person that is elected after Trump is a Democrat, it will take years to rebuild to where we were before big tech started bribing school IT departments. You think Apple/Google/Microsoft give a flying fuck about computer literacy being taught in schools? Because that’s who currently decide the computer literacy program that the public school will provide. Whichever vendor they decide to go with. At this point I’m not convinced that Google is a better choice than the others, but it’s also akin to choosing the least shitty sandwich at a shit-sandwich buffet.

Honestly? In 2025? In the real world? Apple is the only alternative. And it really actually hurts my soul to type this reply out. I hate Apple. I think they are clowns. I hate closed platforms, and I think Mac’s are trash because of it. I have used every single version of Android. All of them, even pre-stable. The only alternative to Google is 2025, in regards to a mobile OS that works with my services and devices that I already own is iOS. The only way to get that is to buy a phone from Apple. And ‘normies’ care VERY MUCH about being able to use their already purchased shit. I wish Europe or Asia would actually try to compete against US big tech. It’s a very strange marketplace, nearly the entire planet trusts US companies with basically their entire infrastructure. The only major players in computing are US based companies, aside from MAYBE Canonical/Ubuntu. In the mobile market, I don’t see a way out of the duopoly at the current moment. If my phone died today I would replace it with an iPhone. And I wouldn’t be happy about it.

This is so much horseshit I can’t even begin to unpack it. You really think those docs aren’t edited? They are 100% verified truth? That is a hunch at best. And so is my claim, it’s a ‘vibe’. I have zero proof of my claims, but I wouldn’t do anything I consider ‘secure’ on any Android device.

There is no fucking way in hell I would consider any Android device a secure device, in any way shape or form. It is, at best, a controlled device that most users do not have control over.

And claiming that anyone that doesn’t buy into the cellblite ‘leaks’ is a conspiracy theorist is also horseshit. (Or any leaks for that matter)

Grayjay is nice, not perfect but getting better all the time. I won’t buy a new device because of this, I unfortunately just purchased a new phone on a Black Friday deal. But there is no way in hell I’m going to inflate android’s user base with my next device purchase. That’s where I draw the line, no more Google hardware or software purchases. Zero. I’m sure as fuck not buying a Pixel, or buying anything through Google’s marketplace. I’m not buying another Android device, and I’m not sure if there is anything that could change my mind at this point. Google is dead to me after this.

It’s important to remember that Google is an adtech business first and foremost. It’s basically the only way they can generate cash. ADtech relies on user counts and active users to negotiate prices and other business deals. I’m not helping Google facilitate those business practices in the future. Buying a used pixel and putting Graphene on it sounds great in principle, but you are 110% adding yourself to the pool of Google pixel users, inflating the value of Google’s advertising business. You don’t get to opt out of that user count, even if you are 101% ‘degoogled’ your are going to be counted as a Google phone owner. Because you would be.