smartphones are ubiquitous and pretty vital to all of us at this point with our data etc. we essentially have only two options being Apple's iPhone and Google's Android. I know that Android is a Linux.
Google will absolutely be taking their own direction and especially with their machine learning you can guarantee that they're going to try to bake it into Android sooner rather than later. I am aware that the Android open source project exists and that there have been derivatives that people have tried to make. but it is still very much dependent upon Google and determined by them. obviously there are a lot of people who do not want to use an iPhone. we need another option. I am aware that Ubuntu made a concerted effort and that they abandoned it though somebody has recently picked it up.

there is the Linux foundation which essentially acts as a independent neutral overseer of the kernel and os development. lots of good smart people contribute to that. Linux of course you all know is used for our world's computer infrastructure. we need something like this for our smartphone operating systems. I don't think I need to tell you how important that is. but I do know that I'm not the person to do it. and I've been out of the Linux community for a very long time. so I don't know what else and who else might be thinking about this particular issue. but any of you reading this will you please bring it up at conferences and in other forms and with the people who can and will make something like this happen.

we have all been complaining about our smartphones for a very long time. the difficulty that has been made to get rid of things that we don't want on them and to be able to access the hardware freely without regard to manufacturer and carrier etc. this next step is important.

thank you
james

If those options bug you, why not use a Linux phone?

Some options are in this article https://linuxstans.com/linux-phone/

NOTE: the Pinephone Pro (an update and improvement over the original Pinephone) is one excellent option, but it is more an experimenter phone and proof of concept than a production cell. Unless you value that, I would pay more for the polish and performance. Check the reviews before spending $$$.

You do know you can root an Android phone and install a whole new operating system that may work with your cell phone carrier, right? You should be sure yours is compatible before rooting and only root without your data to lose but you can get another phone OS. X E.

There is no need to root android if you plan to replace it with another OS. What would be the point?

I personally favor Droidian but other options for android devices include Ubuntu Touch and ports of SailfishOS.

#1 it is not always trivial to root a phone, it depends upon the make, model, and OS version.
#2 You cannot load Linux on all phones. Check the sites for supported models and specific "gotcha" issues before trying.

You are correct about like my post but rooting is like only way to fully replace Android but yes you can use Andronix or similar if you want to get a feel for other Linux. Also, Android is a heavily modified thing from Linux kernel so is it still Linux? It can be classified that way or as its own separate thing. Personally I think of it as not Linux but close. X E.

Android uses the Linux kernel (which is the only thing that is strictly called Linux) but most people use the word Linux to refer to a complete OS that also uses GNU software, and Android does not.