Comments by "Sasha S" (@sashas3362) on "De-Googling an Android 10 Phone" video.

It seems it is hard to find accurate reliable info about installing custom roms. I was lead to believe there were only a few hard to find devices which you could install custom roms on and that you would need to connect the device to a PC. It was only due to some very unlikely circumstances that I discovered the truth which is Project Treble allows you to install custom roms on most modern devices without a PC. Unless I am missing something, it seems all you need (aside from a couple apps which can easily be downloaded in addition to a code to unlock the bootloader) is an SD memory card. You store a recovery app and an OS of choice along with some essential files to the card and then boot into recovery mode, run the aforementioned recovery app on the SD card, install the OS and other files on the phone using that recovery app then you are done (as far as installing a custom rom goes). That is far easier than the instructions one usually finds. And as I said you can do that with most current phones. You only need a device with an unlockable bootloader. It seems most modern devices have unlockable bootloaders but there are a few exceptions. It seems the more expensive devices are the ones with locked bootloaders. The less expensive options are the ones which have unlockable bootloaders.
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@robbraxmantech You should know. I wouldn't because I have not yet installed a custom rom. I'm just sharing what I read. I found a lot of websites which provide instructions for installing the most current official Android Open Source General System Image (AOSP GSI) onto ANY android phone which has android 8 (or is it 8.1) or above on it. They seem to be saying any phone can have a custom ROM installed on it if it either has an unlockable bootloader or is rooted. Some sources say you can do it without unlocking the bootloader and without rooting the phone but you need to use a PC to do it. To find these instructions just use the appropriate search terms such as "install AOSP GSI custom rom on phone without unlocking bootloader or rooting". Are you using an official AOSP GSI or are you using something else like lineage OS? Based on what I've read I get the impression the official AOSP GSI is more reliable than Lineage OS and many other custom roms so long as you follow the recommendations of the project treble checker whoch tells you what sort of AOSP build you will need (partition type etc). But maybe I'm wrong about that. I wouldn't know. I've never tried it. BTW while researching all this I found some webpage or video showing how to unbrick a bricked phone. Have you tried that yet?
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@robbraxmantech Although it is probably true carrier-locked phones have locked bootloaders it seems to me many brands and models of carrier-unlocked phones have unlockable bootloaders although samsung does not. This has not always been true and seems to only have become true recently sometime within the past few years, I'm not sure when exactly). My understanding is a phone which does not have an unlockable bootloader can still be unlocked if it is rooted. But that is risky because then you are intentionally allowing someone (in the form of an app) to hack your phone and trusting them to hand over control of the device solely to you. There is some concern about the legality of rooting. It may be illegal to install a custom rom onto a phone which does not have an unlockable bootloader. In other words, if you have to root the device using a rooting app then it is probably illegal.
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Isn't there still some closed source OEM code running at a level below the OS in the baseband or firmware? Couldn't spying be done at that level? My understanding is project treble compliant phones have the OS and Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) separated. I'm guessing the HAL is where the OEM closed source code is found. Or am I wrong? Perhaps the different lineage OS builds for the different devices include open source alternatives for the HAL so that you are replacing all the manufacturer installed code with open source alternatives instead of leaving some closed source code from the manufacturer in the device. Or are the different lineage OS builds "customized" in some other way?
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@robbraxmantech Thanks for letting me know, Rob. I appreciate your input. Is there a way to replace the OEM software and drivers with open source alternatives? It seems there should be some open source alternatives out there by now. There are open source BIOS, firmware, and driver code for PC's and some peripherals so why not phones? BTW do you know what the legal status of installing custom roms onto tablets is? It seems it was illegal at one time and so may still be illegal unless it was legalized. I have read it's legal to install custom roms onto phones as long as you truly own it and it is allowed by the legal documents attached to the phone and you aren't intending to do anything illegal with it. But I have read it is illegal to install a custom rom onto tablets. I don't understand why there would be a difference between a tablet and a phone. A so-called (smart) "phone" isn't actually (only) a telephone but rather a small tablet. A tablet can make "telephone" calls AKA "voice calls" the same as a tablet so what is the difference? A tablet can do everything a phone can do or vice verse. So what is the difference? Supposedly it's illegal to install a custom rom onto a tablet due to copyright laws but I don't understand that. Perhaps you would know. Hopefully that nonsense has been outdated. Maybe the right to repair executive order biden signed the other day makes it legal to install custom roms on tablets? The only reason that law was needed is to knock down the obstacles created by copyright laws on the software inside of the hardware, right? So, if copyright laws are what made it illegal to install custom roms onto tablets and you argue you are "repairing" a tablet by installing a custom rom because you believe it is in need of improvements due to (intentional) design "flaws" (which are intended to weaken security and create backdoors for illegal surveillance) then it should now be perfectly legal to install a custom ROM onto any tablet you own to "fix" it (IMO).
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@robbraxmantech IMO blockhain phones are the way to go. What do you think about blockchain phones running dapps instead of apps? Why aren't these more popular? Seems more secure to me partly because you don't need to download the app or install it. It runs remotely. It's like using a "dumny terminal" to remotely control some supercomputer. Quantum computing tech is evolving so fast I can't keep up. But I know it is now possible to remotely control quantum computers now. You can actually do all your computing on quantum computers now. But you are accessing and controlling them with classical computers. But that connection and the conttolling classical computer can be secured in new and improved ways via quantum computers if I remember correctly. So why isn't this the standard yet?
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@robbraxmantech While searching for an open source HAL and drivers I seem to have discovered that a HAL is only required if you are installing android. This seems to imply the closed source OEM layer can be replaced with open source alternatives if you install a true linux OS instead of android which is not true linux (android is only regarded as linux because it contains a linux kernel). Android is java based VM's running on a linux kernel. Years ago the DoD issued a warning to the public that java (the programming language as opposed to javascript if I understand correctly) had some vulnerabilities and should not be used. Do you know if that warning still applies? Or have the vulnerabilities been fixed somehow? Anyway, the point is I'd rather install a true linux OS onto a "phone" (or phablet) because not only would that be more powerful but it could be fully open source even at the driver level. Or am I missing something?
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@robbraxmantech BTW the reason rooting using a rooting app is risky is because (as with all open source code) even with an open source rooting app there is no guarantee the code has been thoroughly audited by the community; even if it had been thoroughly audited and a problem found there is no guarantee the public would be informed of that problem because the person(s) who discovered it might keep it to themselves to exploit somehow or might not be able to get the message out due to censorship. It is also possible the rooting app could have malicious code injected into it while being downloaded. So rooting apps are risky. Installing custom roms is also risky because if there is any malware/spyware on the system used to download the custom rom images it can then infect the OS at the root level instead of at a higher level so can be more devastating. So you want to be sure you use very clean and secure computers to prepare and install custom rom files (meaning a computer with only the bare essentials installed and which hasn't been used to surf the net haphazardly; ideally you want to use a new computer or a computer with a freshest reinstall of the OS). I'm sure I don't need to explain any of this to you though, rob. Just sharing for the benefit of others who may be reading.
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Did I miss the part where you show how to install the AOSP custom ROM on the device or how to customize/configure it for the device?
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