Yeah that a good idea! Will look into it . Must get some self hosting going :)

Oh why didn’t I think of that… thanks for the great help!

Thanks yeah that’s gonna be my next step.

Sure , got a Foss Whatsapp client laying around?

Exodus

Yeah thinking of some self hosting later , but need to fix my main PC first. Managed to botch a dual setup and lost a ton of stuff…

I do have dns filter on the vpn server but no controll over the lists. DNS solutions that use the VPN won’t do it. I can of course change DNS server (and I’m gonna setup Adguard on my extra glinet router once they fix their botched firmware update) question is if trackers use more than publich IPS and doesn’t change. An updated list would work I guess.

Same as stock , a bit extra with minor updates. After that either upgrade if you want a secure device or install calyx, lineage etc otherwise. It’s in the FAQ https://grapheneos.org/faq#supported-devices

New pixels have 7 years official support.

I have done a lot of pixel repairs and GOS installations . Pixels are glued shut. It is repairable but it is quite sure to say that the screen will break if removed , it’s kind of like removing two eggshells glued together. Requires a lot of patience and luck to do it without breaking it. Once in it’s not harder than any other phone. That said my own has a a 40 euro case to avoid the issues of repairs, I recommend that. Screens are 100 + euros nowadays. So repairs is rarely worth it. Depends on the price you can get the parts for it.

Batteries can be replaced but takes some work and hot air gun to remove glue.

For GOS yeah that’s what you want it’s the best. And I do everything from debian distros.

Don’t use aurora. Instead install GOS implementation of google play on a separate user profile if needed. The user profiles are a lot better sandboxed than regular user profiles and the gapp implementation better than aurora. And most things work without it also.

GOS gets more support than regular pixels but are recommended to not trust after pixel official updates end. For the new ones it’s 7 years. Usually GOS gets a year extra of minor updates. Check the FAQ and device support on https://grapheneos.org/faq

I use mine for nearly everything. And there are either FOSS apps from FDroid (and additional repos) or just use the mobile website for non Foss stuff like banking. There are a few exceptions , like Whatsapp that I need but it have fewer permissions and no access to contacts ( there’s a Foss app as helper for that as well) . Your headphones will work fine.

Not really , just that you don’t know about their security. Avoiding the cloud as much as possible myself.

Not sure I follow the problem here. Is it easier in the countries you are in to get blocked for using vpns? I mean if the goal is to access games and stuff i would just use a good vpn , mullvad is the only one i still have good trust in.

Start using onion sites for sensitive stuff. If you use a always on vpn , then you dont have to worry about state actors seeing that you are using tor.

The thing you really should watch it for is your phone. If you can the best is to use a phone without sim card and with GOS on it, preferably with a broken papertrail and no sim card use previously. If you need internet on the go use a sim card in a travel router and connect that via vpn to your devices. But no tech solution would save you from user error of course.

And use a secure email service , I use tuta wich never complaints about my vpn. Other stuff sure but i dont miss those sites. Good ones will lift any blocks if you ask.

VPS is of course an option , but it does have the downside of not being able to blend in with the crowd.

For the legal issues yeah UK is a bad option. But any EU country should be fine even if they in the eyes programme. Germany have decent privacy laws still. Iceland as well. But for me I just use another closer to home. I trust mullvad enough (and they dont know anything about me in form of payments or identification)

And stop using services that blocks you. There are alternatives for a lot.

KeePass then you have your own file instead of relying on a third party. And you are free to sync it how you wish , syncthing is great . I left proton earlier since I don’t trust them , but never used the proton pass at all.

I’m quite experienced in Linux but I wouldn’t use either. Arch is great if you like to tinker, Ubuntu sucks for the not so libre approach , corporate ties, telemetry etc. I distrohopped before but today I just install my debian based distro and shit works… Ubuntu I’ve installed twice before when I was new to Linux, and have had a major issues every time due to official updates that broke internet drivers and other things, that’s a fun one when you only have one PC . Not to mention its so bloated that shitty computers that I like to thinker with it have a hard time catching up. The arch thing is also mostly a kind of meme, targeting the more unbearable nerds. People I hated when I was a noob (they will let you know you are) But they are found everywhere and in general I don’t think there’s more of those people in arch community than anywhere else. It’s more of a stab at elitism than arch specifically.

I see a point in arch but zero in ubuntu.

Time to regroup under new name then. And make the “justice” system a target