> It's always surprising how many people who like to tinker with their devices also deliberately want to tie themselves more into the Google ecosystem.

I don’t believe that there’s a realistic alternative. The Apple ecosystem is even more restrictive, while even in 2026 the non-Android Linux phone market appears to still be pretty uncompelling.

I meant more like installing LineageOS (which exists for most of the devices that PixelOS is ported for) and managing Google apps yourself - whether just installing a regular minimal GApps, or using MicroG. PixelOS is like a "give me Google everything" nuclear option.