I’m a complete and utter newbie to this. But, based on the discussion about “not needing a new phone” and the availability of alternatives in Canada, can anyone recommend what might act as a suitable alternative to Android and iPhone OS. Ideally, I can keep my phone and just use a different OS. But I have some problems and could use some foundational knowledge to start my research and make a decision:
- I’m trying to keep my Samsung S21 Ultra as long as possible. I looked at Graphene and Lineage and both do not support it from what I can tell.
- Internet, heavy data use is not an issue. I have wi-fi wherever I go.
- I’d prefer not to buy a new phone. If I need to buy a used phone, I am leaning towards an older Pixel and Graphene OS. Is that a sound decision? If not, are there phones such as Fairphone (not in Canada…) to consider?
So you live in a cabin in the woods?
Absolutely we do. I care more about privacy and security than I do about throwing a few bucks at Google’s hardware division.
And I’m more worried about surveillance capitalism, the rise of fascism, attacks on software freedom, the unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, and modern day slavery than I am about extremely targeted local security threats. But I also respect that others have different threat models. Some journalists and community organizers in [aspiring] dictatorships need higher security standards than I do, and they are only able to meet these standards because enthusiasts choose to make it a priority.
I live in Europe, and I don’t find it very difficult to avoid overly evil shit. I wouldn’t travel to the US, and if I did I wouldn’t want to bring any personal electronics with me.
Then learn from Americans. Because that “overly evil shit” flew in overnight. God knows Europe has its share of evil shit in history.
Here we very much disagree in our understanding of American history, but that’s another debate. :)