They loophole it by not “hosting” anything other than text. Link to something and someone else is accountable right? Just ignore that data is data and any image or video can be expressed as a sequence of “text” :)

“it’s easier than you think” is one thing that’s very helpful to show to people that don’t already know about using free software without tracking and such, but when it’s “it’s easier than you think, just spend hundreds of dollars and replace your device” I’d say the barrier to entry is the cost more than the skill.

Aren’t there phones like the Nothing that already have fully FOSS android implementations pre-installed? That’s the peak “easy” - just buy a new product! So saying installing Lineage is “easy” to someone who very likely can only do so after buying a new product is burying the lede.

If you’re buying a new one, whatever fits your budget and is compatible with Lineage/Graphene.

The only times I’ve personally been forced off of a Samsung phone (though I’ve mostly had flagships) wasn’t due to any day-to-day degradation in user experience. It was stuff like switching USA carriers or my carrier blacklisting devices with 3g. My current S22 Ultra is three years old, going on four, and aside from needing to use adb and shizuku to have a semblance of control I once had with root there’s nothing wrong with it. My previous phone was only replaced because it became incompatible with my ATT phone service in the US. The Note 9, which was four years-ish old when ATT decided 3g+4g wasn’t good enough and deactivated any SIM i put in the thing. If not for that arbitrary carrier-made decision, I can’t think of many things that 9 couldn’t do that the S22U can.

My next phone won’t be a purchase I make until I absolutely need to make it, and at that point it’ll exclusively be a pick from degooglable unlockable models. I’ll probably choose based on hardware like an SD slot, removable battery, and stylus if any of those are available. Or maybe linux phones will be a thing at that point and I’ll be looking at those.

$300 plus shipping and taxes. In your region. And a whole lot more than $0, which is the cost of staying on someone’s old phone. when someone’s buying a new phone already, considering its compatibility with Lineage or Graphene is something that should be on more people’s radar, I agree. But switching from googled vendor’d Android to fully open Android isn’t a pure skill issue like switching from Chrome to Firefox (/Waterfox/librewolf) or Windows to Linux is. “I’d switch but it’s too hard” is a much smaller reason than “I’d switch but it’s too expensive” is.

Someone’s five year old phone is just as likely to be a five year old Samsung/etc with a locked bootloader.

Of course it is. But that doesn’t change that for very many users, the difficulty of the install process isn’t anywhere close to a limiting factor.

Doesn’t matter how easy it is when step zero is “spend $500+ on a new phone because you’re currently using a Samsung or other device with a locked bootloader”

Remember, even cheaper phones (that actually work with your carrier) get marked up. Taxes, shipping, accessories like a case. Being able to afford a new device is nice and Lineage/Graphene make a good case for which new device you should buy, but someone’s five year old phone still works.