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Joined 6 months ago
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Cake day: June 9th, 2025

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  • Not against the idea of someone doing what they want with their hardware. That’s what got me into custom ROMs, and Linux, and Open Source projects to begin with.

    I personally will not be rooting my GrapheneOS, even though once upon a time I would have jumped at the idea because of wanting a few things.

    I feel it does compromise some of the security mechanisms and philosphies of GrapheneOS.

    Like I said though, it’s our device, use it how we want.


  • I took a similar journey. I had the Pixel Pro 7, and when that broke I went to the 8 Pro.

    I was on LineageOS with Root, and utilized quite a bit of root enabled apps and plugins.

    • AdAway (I needed a non-vpn-like ad blocking solution, because I also used WireGuard
    • WireGuard Kernel Module
    • SDMaid(2?)
    • A-GPS SUPLReplacer
    • ReVanced (without Micro G)
    • Termux
    • PlayIntegrityFix
    • TrickyStore
    • AFWall+ (Since I didn’t want some apps making network connections)
    • Custom Kernels (mainly for optimization, including but not limited to thermal issues)

    I am sure there were more, in fact I know I used more but they constantly were changing because of keeping up with the cat and mouse game of passing Google’s Verification. All because I wanted control.

    That was one of the biggest reasons behind root for me, to have full control over everything.

    I took a step back, and decided to go down the rabbithole of using GrapheneOS, and eith a few exceptions, offered everything I was trying to accomplish with LineageOS and Root. All without the side-effects.

    Do I miss having root? Yes. Would i switch back? That’s complicated. Yes and No, but really dependent on how Google decidesproceed in their endeavors of trying to lock everything down.

    I don’t want another “Apple.” I am on Android because I am more of a poweruser than anyone I know in real life. I use more than just texting/messaging apps, and multimedia. I manage servers, and care about privacy, and I want to understand the inner workings of the devices I use. Bet ya can’t what family of OSs I use on my PCs? Just kidding. You already know.












  • What distro should I use?

    This always feels like a loaded question. I don’t believe there is a one choice that is “right.”

    After distro hopping and trying many, I have come to a few realizations for myself.

    There are a few factors to consider:

    • What Desktop Environment (if any…): KDE, GNOME, XFCE, Cosmic, etc (this gets a bit more complicated depending on if you don’t want a desktop environment. You could just go CLI or with just a Window Manager like Hyprland, Sway, i3, or others I’m unfamiliar with.)
    • What package manager are you comfortable with? And what style of package management do you want? Do you want older but tested and more stable? Do you want bleeding edge?
    • Is systemd a deal breaker for you?

    Really what I am getting at, you don’t know what you don’t know. So test out many! You can do this in a Virtual Machine with Virtualbox on Windows before switching.