Hello there,
I would like a more secure and private OS on my phone. Copperhead OS is interesting but I don't have the money to buy a device from them nor the know how to use the source. So my question, what is a good alternative. It seems like there are a lot of options here on XDA. It's my first time here and I'm not the most technical when it comes to software. I was able to switch all my home computing to linux/tails but working with my phone seems much harder. Any advice would be a huge help at this point.
What I think I know:
-I need to unlock my phone, and I have a Verizon Pixel XL. I found this article, (turns out new people can't post links but it is the page with the depixel8 tool), that I think will help me to unlock. Step one of this article mentions fastboot and adb which I think I get from Android SDK. So I'm pretty sure I first download the SDK (gonna find a guide to be safe) and then I do these steps through the terminal.
-Back up everything! I've removed all my pictures, I don't have a ton of contacts but I saved those else where too. Everything at this point can be lost, so when we say "back up everything" is there something I am missing? In my Desktop experience this also meant back up my old windows install, is this the case here? If so how do I do that?
-When the phone is unlocked, I then load a ROM on to it and select it in bootloader?
In summation, very lost, slightly confused, willing to learn! I'm just looking for an OS where I can use open source software, including the OS. Call me paranoid (fixes tin foil hat) but I'd rather try to keep my life private if even a little. Thank you for any help you can provide me in taking my first steps into something new.
I would like a more secure and private OS on my phone. Copperhead OS is interesting but I don't have the money to buy a device from them nor the know how to use the source. So my question, what is a good alternative. It seems like there are a lot of options here on XDA. It's my first time here and I'm not the most technical when it comes to software. I was able to switch all my home computing to linux/tails but working with my phone seems much harder. Any advice would be a huge help at this point.
What I think I know:
-I need to unlock my phone, and I have a Verizon Pixel XL. I found this article, (turns out new people can't post links but it is the page with the depixel8 tool), that I think will help me to unlock. Step one of this article mentions fastboot and adb which I think I get from Android SDK. So I'm pretty sure I first download the SDK (gonna find a guide to be safe) and then I do these steps through the terminal.
-Back up everything! I've removed all my pictures, I don't have a ton of contacts but I saved those else where too. Everything at this point can be lost, so when we say "back up everything" is there something I am missing? In my Desktop experience this also meant back up my old windows install, is this the case here? If so how do I do that?
-When the phone is unlocked, I then load a ROM on to it and select it in bootloader?
In summation, very lost, slightly confused, willing to learn! I'm just looking for an OS where I can use open source software, including the OS. Call me paranoid (fixes tin foil hat) but I'd rather try to keep my life private if even a little. Thank you for any help you can provide me in taking my first steps into something new.
