Linux-kernel based and permissive-licensed GrapheneOS came up in a conversation between Joe Rogan and Adam Curry – Rogan’s fellow podcaster and an (open source) tech entrepreneur and enthusiast.
Rogan “brought it upon himself” so to speak, when he noted that Curry was somebody who “like Zuckerberg” won’t use an iPhone.
One of the main topics was the government’s decision announced late in December to ban the use of TikTok on federal devices, and whether the Chinese-owned platform would get banned in the US altogether – and why.
Related: An introduction to GrapheneOS
When Curry observed that the entire (consumer-facing) tech, particularly social media industry now relies on advertising, and that this, i.e., “Big Money,” is the reason behind many of the things we’re seeing, Rogan made his “iPhone” remark.
Curry then informed him that he was using a phone running GrapheneOS, essentially because companies Zuckerberg’s and Apple squabble not “merely” over ad dollars, but collect information that is used to profile people and then sell on those profiles.
“They all do it,” Curry said, referencing proprietary, closed-source devices and services offered by Big Tech, and the corporations who make them.
Related: How to install GrapheneOS on a Pixel smartphone
Rogan then thought that Curry in the past used “an old iPhone” – but Curry informed him the physical device was a (Google) Pixel, only with “all the Google stuff (built on top of Android) ripped off.”
And now, his operating system of choice is GrapheneOS. He acknowledged that regardless of the device or the OS running on it, “if you’re connected to a network, they still know where you are.”
But this way, Curry continued, the contained, “sand-boxed” apps are prevented from using permissions a user is sometimes unaware of to “spy” on them.
Curry also took the opportunity to “plug” his podcast, “No Agenda,” and explained that GrapheneOS is its “official” operating system for phones, mentioning also the site with instructions on how to install the privacy-friendly alternative.
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