My example was that specific user, FWIW.

I send and receive iMessages perfectly fine on my non-iOS devices. It's doable, much more so than running ancient hardware is, but there's a reason I don't constantly bring it up with people who haven't asked.

The PinePhone Pro wasn't a compromise, it was unusable. Maybe that's improved since then.

I set the IT policy for my devices. I sleep fine saying I can't install crapware on it. It's my primary business device and that cones with sensible restrictions.