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Joined 5 months ago
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Cake day: June 9th, 2025

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  • I got into custom ROMs late into the game. I always had locked devices because it was easier for me paying monthly for a phone.

    However, when I switched to using my Pixel 7 Pro I tried LineageOS, and a few other forks and such. I tried GrapheneOS back when I was on my 7 Pro. I didn’t stick with GrapheneOS because I was struggling with some app compatability. Ultimately switched back to LineageOS with Root. It allowed me to use my system wife adblocking, and other custom stuff such as custom kernels, and modules.

    I broke my 7 Pro, and got an 8 Pro. For a brief period of time I used LineageOS with root and custom modules and kernels. I got tired of having to fix play integrity and safety net. So I switched to GrapheneOS.

    Noe that I am on GrapheneOS again full time, it has gotten a lot better, and more importantly I have changed my habits. So GrapheneOS offers me exactly what i want and need.



  • What distro should I use?

    This always feels like a loaded question. I don’t believe there is a one choice that is “right.”

    After distro hopping and trying many, I have come to a few realizations for myself.

    There are a few factors to consider:

    • What Desktop Environment (if any…): KDE, GNOME, XFCE, Cosmic, etc (this gets a bit more complicated depending on if you don’t want a desktop environment. You could just go CLI or with just a Window Manager like Hyprland, Sway, i3, or others I’m unfamiliar with.)
    • What package manager are you comfortable with? And what style of package management do you want? Do you want older but tested and more stable? Do you want bleeding edge?
    • Is systemd a deal breaker for you?

    Really what I am getting at, you don’t know what you don’t know. So test out many! You can do this in a Virtual Machine with Virtualbox on Windows before switching.






  • I have been running my own dockerized instance of SeaeXNG for years now. I love it. I have it setup behind a reverse proxy to serve a cert for https and I am always VPN’d into my home network (split tunnel for only apps I want to use my home network anyways) and it has been working like a charm.

    Search results are reliable, and it’s customizable.