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Comment by Yetanfou | Hacker News Reader

For the same reason that I do not use Windows or MacOS - I like my software to listen to me, not to some remote dictator no matter how 'benevolent' he might portray himself to be. My phones run Android but do not run anything Google - no play store, no Google Services Framework, no Google apps. Seen from foundation to screen they run a - generally closed source - bootloader, the Linux kernel, some derivative of AOSP with F-Droid to feed the thing with software. Somewhere on the side they also run the closed-source, closed-everything 4G (or 3G on some older devices) modem. The bootloader and the closed radio software are thus far unavoidable but for the other parts there is no excuse not to use open, 'free' software. Just like my servers and user-facing machines run Linux or one of the BSD's.

An iPhone would not be a step up but a jump down.

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Can I ask the make and model of the phone you're using? I assume it's on a custom ROM and rooted since you said there aren't any Google Play Services related stuff running.

I have a Galaxy Tab S5e on the way that runs Android + Samsung DeX Linux. I'm hoping to use the Linux aspect heavily, so less of my info flows to Google. But I'll need to dig into it a bit to understand how they keep the data separate (if they do).

A Xiaomi Redmi Note 5, a bunch of Motorola Defy/Defy+ devices, a RK3066 'Cherry' tablet and some other random devices. The Redmi Note 5 runs LineageOS (nougat), the Defy(+) Cyanogenmod (kitkat), the tablet also Cyanogenmod. I use the Redmi Note 5 and a Defy+ as my main devices, the Defy when I'm doing 'dangerous' stuff as it is less vulnerable and smaller than the Redmi. The tablet is hardly used at all.

I'm not GP, but I also have a custom Android-based OS on my phone (not 100% FOSS, but the only thing keeping me from it is slightly better UX).

For software support I can generally recommend the Pocophone F1 by Xiaomi. The process of unlocking the bootloader is an insult, but after killing of Xiaomi software the user experience is quite good, with pretty good hardware for quite little money.

As soon as you have a compatible OS ("ROM") running, you will generally not have to worry about hardware, but making one is a considerable amount of work, so if you're intending to install a custom OS you should better choose a phone with good developer support.

I have been thinking about starting a database of good phone choices for modding/free software, but am not sure how much interest there is.

> closed-everything 4G (or 3G on some older devices)

Cellular modems with open firmware are prohibited in 140 countries, including US and Europe.

Interesting. Do you have sources for that? Genuinely interested to know.

THe list of countries I've read is long time lost for me, but I've checked regulations in dozen countries from there and it was correct.

For US: https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/kdb/forms/FTSSearchResultPage.cfm...

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