Android alternatives

[grandma]

How is Juanito? He was very helpful. Is he still around?

Given trends I was thinking it'd be wise to explore building a secure distro for Smartphones; a mobile alternative. I wonder if there's any interest here.

Back in 2010 I used tiny core to build Pocket Rocket Linux, and it worked well for me for a few years. Then inspired by Robert S I built Damn Fast Linux, with both of these distros running off Tiny Core 3.8  while you are raced ahead to Version 9 and I guess you're at 16 now. I even had a guy from Sweden show up here who does a lot of drones and camera work and he was using my old damn fast Linux. You guys have done a fabulous job of keeping this alive. I wish to thank you all, but I really boot my laptop anymore except to compile C programs. Therefore, I think there is a solid need for a distro that can replace the spyware and hacked Android operating system on most phones. I have looked at some of the Alternatives out there and I think we can do a better job. Let me know if anyone has any interest or ideas. I guess it's premature but I will say Merry Christmas anyway. We just got our first super cold snap here on the coast in Silicon Valley. The heaters running on the sailboat, or maybe I just feel warm and fuzzy because I stopped by to say hi.

[Juanito]

Still here

[gadget42]

with respect to android and alternatives and interest...

after much research and deliberation/procrastination we bought a Pixel 9a and put GrapheneOS on it
(the phone it replaced was an approx. 6-8yr-old android version 8 device and so the pixel was a major investment indeed, especially since it may only get used a few times a year)

and with the recent changes at Alphabet/Gxxgle regarding android/aosp even the few alternatives may be forced to abandon their efforts:

additional references for your convenience:

https://discuss.grapheneos.org/d/21315-explanation-of-recent-changes-to-aosp-and-the-lack-of-major-impact-on-grapheneos

https://www.androidauthority.com/google-not-killing-aosp-3566882/

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/07/loss-of-popular-2fa-tool-puts-security-minded-grapheneos-in-a-paradox/

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/10/google-confirms-android-dev-verification-will-have-free-and-paid-tiers-no-public-list-of-devs/

also just saw this new threat but haven't researched it yet:

https://arstechnica.com/security/2025/10/no-fix-yet-for-attack-that-lets-hackers-pluck-2fa-codes-from-android-phones/