persona_non_gravitas

Is it only Graphene? I vaguely recall having had it on DivestOS (RIP), which was a Lineage fork.

Edit: Any app, duh, yes, silly me. Don’t remember if it was possible for all of them.

IMHO if you only care about Google sucking your data and not other privacy/security, the most important question isn’t between OSes as much as it’s between:

1. No Google apps (GAPPS); honestly good ol’ LineageOS is just fine. If you don’t install Google spyware you don’t have Google spyware, just the connectivity check and dns. Which you can probably change. Major con, many applications installed from Play store (through Aurora store, apk, whatever) and practically all notifications you’d receive from them stop working.

2. MicroG; open source GAPPS replacement that tries to send as little data as possible to Google, while keeping Play store apps & push notifications working. /e/, iodé, Lineage for MicroG, Lineage but add microG manually during installation, formerly CalyxOS…

3. Add GAPPS but try to handicap it somehow (incl. GrapheneOS work profile isolation); I don’t remember if it’s eg. possible to block them from accessing the Internet on non-GrapheneOS phones, by app permissions or eg. NetGuard?

If we’re taking into account other privacy and security, then GrapheneOS by a mile.

There are so many grades of lapsang souchong. Some of them even add artificial flavourings to supplement/in stead of smoking. AFAIK the original chinese version isn’t even smoked, historically it’s either a 100% made-for-export product, or smoking was a way to make the lower quality leaves into something more interesting, and even then more subtly than the the tarry, campfire-y version we know today.

Point being, once you’ve tried one souchong, you’ve tried one souchong. Check what’s in the bag, and if you want to try again find a tea store that lets you taste or sniff beforehand. If you want to try a certainly non-smoked version, find jin jun mei; it’s a premium grade tea priced accordingly though.

I contacted the EU DMA team a while back. Part of the response:

We have taken note of your concerns and, while we cannot comment on ongoing dialogue with gatekeepers, these considerations will form part of our assessment of the justifications for the verification process provided by Google.

So at least some part of the bureaucracy are aware of it.

Briar, SimpleX, I2Pchat on desktop, maybe LXMF/Reticulum/Sideband over I2P if you want to get techy.

Cool, but admit it, you shared it (and I read it) because of that title that someone had way too much fun writing.