Hmm...I fail to see how "blocking users" = "anti-censorship". After all, anti-censorship is the selling point of the fediverse.

De-googling by buying a product from Google. That IS contradictory. It defeats the whole purpose of de-googling, no matter how good the hardware is. Even other roms function on a wide range of phones not made by Google.

Nothing will change or improve by continuing to rely on Google (or Apple for that matter). All these privacy/minimalist phones being released, yet not one of them attempts to use Linux. At least Pine64 made an effort.

It's half-baked because it's a new thing. Android & iOS have had nearly 2 DECADES to improve and refine their stuff. It's unfair to not extend Pinephone the same courtesy.

Half-baked or not, it's still a better move than staying in the same shitty position, while whining about Google's invasiveness

Honestly, the Pinephone. Physical killswitches, swappable battery, Linux OS, micro SD support, and a headphone jack. With the limited apps available, it makes a great minimalist phone. Still offers good messaging apps like Briar, Dino, and a couple Matrix clients.

Nope, still nonsensical. It's a compromise that completely undermines the whole exercise of de-googling.

Android's open source isn't meaningful if Google can still dictate it's development. Especially with their recent change that put rom developers behind. Even Graphene had to order a phone just to start reverse engineering the OS.

I'm specifically talking about phones, which is what I thought we were discussing. You keep moving the goal post to suit your argument.

Let me be clear because something seems to have been lost in translation with my original post. I'm not targeting Graphene or any custom rom. I'm pointing out the absurdity of trying to de-google with a custom rom by purchasing a product from Google.

If people are still suckling on Google/Android's teet, progress on alternatives will be extremely slow or stall altogether. All I see is the battered wife syndrome whenever someone suggests leaving Android & iOS. Custom roms, like nearly all forks, are bandaid solutions being treated as permanent.

And you're telling me a custom version of Android (doesn't matter which one), or a Google Pixel is going to stop law enforcement from doing the exact same things? I seriously doubt that.

Google literally made a negative adjustment with AOSP that significantly impacts custom rom development...and you're telling me Android is still worth it? Open source is irrelevant at this point if Google is in the driver's seat.

Plus, I seem to recall devs complaining about Google making it very difficult to continue maintaining Android custom roms. And yet I'm the crazy one for suggesting people move away from Android altogether...

If people want to continue using Google products, that's on them. However, when Google sneezes and something breaks, or they're caught spying on people for the billionth time, you have NO RIGHT to complain.