alt Hacker News> Being reliant on the hardware manufacturer (or network operator?) for OS updates is the crazy world we live in.
Being reliant on a single OS permanently nailed to the hardware is no less crazier. I'd like to be able to install another OS on a vulnerable device, it would help tremendously and not only with the security of that specific device.
Now I've got some expensive paperweights that I can't even use as such because every time I see them I have the urge to throw them in the trash can.
Provide a way to unlock the phones and a standard BSP, it should be the law.
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> Being reliant on a single OS permanently nailed to the hardware is no less crazier.
Locking OS upgrades to a network vendor is substantially crazier. It creates pockets where the hardware vendor ships a security update but your network doesn't care to ship it and isn't incented to. It is BANANAS.
If you are buying now, you want a device on a v5 Linux kernel with BPF support, where the bootloader can be unlocked and VoLTE is implemented in the 3rd-party ROM.
LineageOS has a build roster of current devices at this URL:
https://lineageos.org/Changelog-30/
The Pixels are the most flexible, but don't buy a model from Verizon (they don't allow unlocked bootloaders).
Most other OEMs require you to generate an unlock token and send it to them, then wait a week, which is extrememly inconvenient (and sometimes they just stop and refuse, as I understand OnePlus has).
If you want a locked bootloader at the end of the process for security, then you will be on a later Pixel with Graphene.