[...] you just never knew or cared about it. [...]
n3t_admin: Please refrain from making claims about someone else's inner state because you do not have access to it. I'm not aware of us being engaged in a formal debate, but avoiding discussing the innards of other people as a habit seems conducive to avoiding falling into:
[...] Getting free software updates with security fixes and feature improvements is [not planned obsolescence]. [...]
Please follow the plot. I didn't claim any relationship between GrapheneOS and planned obsolescence. If you perceived such a claim and that is why you consider me to have "twisted views," then I'll suggest that you might be engaging with a:
Having typed that, please consider these 2 scenarios:
I plugged in a light-bulb, I turned on the light-switch, the light-bulb lit up.
[...50 years later...]
I plugged in the same light-bulb, I turned on the light-switch, the light-bulb lit up.
versus:
I plugged in a light-bulb, I turned on the light-switch, the light-bulb lit up.
[...50 years later...]
I plugged in the same light-bulb, I turned on the light-switch, the light-bulb did not light up.
Now please consider this real scenario:
October, 2022: I installed GrapheneOS, I used the Google-fetching feature to fetch Google features.
October, 2024: I installed the same GrapheneOS, I tried to use the same Google-fetching feature to fetch Google features, but I was unable to fetch those Google features.
Now please consider these possible, imaginary, mutually exclusive explanations:
The GrapheneOS service that responded to 2022 requests was found to have bugs, or to have security problems, or was found to be too expensive to maintain, or the original developers were no longer available, or it was found to have other shortcomings, so an alternative service was set up. The new service requires a newer GrapheneOS, which everyone should be using because it is granted that 2 years is "ancient history" in the fast-moving, fluid world of cellular telephones.
versus:
The GrapheneOS service that responded to 2022 requests could have been maintained. A better GrapheneOS service was developed and it could have continued to support the older GrapheneOS requests. Supporting older requests is conducive to people not updating, which is deemed to be against their own interests, so support for those old requests was intentionally removed in order to incentivize updating. It is granted that 2 years is "ancient history" in the fast-moving, fluid world of cellular telephones.
I'm not claiming that these 2 explanations exhaust the space of possible explanations. I'm not claiming that one of these must reflect reality.
Please consider this alternative, imaginary scenario:
October, 2022: I installed GrapheneOS, I used the Google-fetching feature to fetch Google features.
October, 2024: I installed the same GrapheneOS, I used the same Google-fetching feature to fetch Google features.
This is superficially similar to the 50-year light-bulb. The explanations above anticipate an argument about differences and are intended to demonstrate agreement that "there are differences from a light-bulb." I also know that a GrapheneOS release is not expected to include Google features.
Here are some more examples:
2003: I install an OS from a CD, I install some word processing software from a CD, I can make documents.
2025: I have a virtual machine. Inside, I install the same OS from its CD, I install the same word processing software from its CD, I can make documents. Because processors (etc.) are faster than in 2003, my experience of making documents is blazingly fast.
versus:
202X: I buy a computer that has an OS. I buy a license for word processing software. I can make documents. I always keep everything up to date, as far as patches go.
2025: I can mysteriously no longer make documents. I could, yesterday. My word processing software indicates that a newer version of the word processing software is recommended. It will require purchasing a newer license. I examine the system requirements for that newer word processor version. It indicates that I will need to purchase a newer OS. I examine the system requirements for that newer OS. It indicates that I will need to purchase a newer computer. I call a trusted party who explains to me that it's possible to use alternatives which avoid "the sales funnel" and "the subscription model of consumption."
(I'm not personally the victim of that most recent example.)
I've already shared about the old cellular telephone and the DD strategy and how great it is.
de0u: It's not clear to me why the "Secure Boot" example you've shared is any less applicable for mobile devices. If the Google Pixel 6a secure element's firmware's key is published online, then someone skilled in the art can sign a malicious variant of the firmware and it can eventually reach the secure element. Have I misunderstood some fundamental difference? "But a user has to approve the firmware upgrade!" Yes, and "a user" had to expose one of those "Secure Boot" computers to the root-kit, unless it arrived by wind-current. Is this an argument for "security through obscurity?" Something like, "most people use such-and-such OS, so most hackers target that OS, so most hacks are found for that OS, so that OS is less secure than another OS."
How about this?: You adjust your equipment to trust your own keys and you avoid "supply-chain" failures, such as that "Secure Boot" example.
For example, a firmware developer publishes their source-code. You scrutinize it. You trust it. You adjust it to trust payloads signed by your own key. You compile it. You use the existing firmware to authorize the installation of your firmware. A boot payload developer publishes their source-code. You scrutinize it. You trust it. You compile it. You sign it with your own key. One day, an exploit is found. You're paying attention to exploits, so you become aware of it. You decide this exploit is worthy of attention. You apply a patch.
[...] expecting them to lower their security to match desktops [...]
You might be arguing against one of these:
I might not have been clear, earlier. My hope is to avoid a single point of failure, in data-accessibility scenarios. One way to achieve this is to have multiple copies of the data. I'm not currently aware of any cellular telephone software (other than DD, in yesteryears) which can take all data and securely synchronize it to another location, such that it can be accessed without the original and restored to a counterpart of the original. This has been possible with laptop and desktop and data-centre computers for a very long time, and it was possible with older cellular telephones.
Perhaps our disagreement is fundamentally about what "good security" means: if "good security" includes "I'd rather lose all my data during an incident than ever regain access to it," then that's not matched with my cellular telephone needs, in which "good security" includes that "I have different security-levels for different data. For some of those levels, it doesn't matter where my data is physically located, as long as I can access it, and nobody can access it without knowing what's in my mind." These are still both compatible with other security-concerns, such as "I don't want anyone to suspect that I have private data" and "I don't want to give any clues about my data's content" and "I want to blend in with everyone else" and even "I want a particular single point of failure for particular data, such that during an incident, I can forfeit that data, forever." I have lost family pictures during this ordeal; not state secrets. It's my fault for not backing up more frequently.
Maybe a "Venn Diagram" (in text form š ) would help: if "Owner" profile has family pictures, if "SuperSecret" profile has state secrets, then when "Owner" profile access is lost, both family pictures and state secrets are lost. If only "SuperSecret" profile access is lost, then family pictures are preserved and state secrets are lost.
de0u: Please imagine this scenario:
Monday: You are driving an automobile. When you signal to make a turn, the signal flashes at an interval of twice per second.
The automobile manufacturer had a focus-group study. In that focus-group study, psychological studies showed that participants were happier about a once-per-second signal-flashing rate.
An automobile association report also showed that higher-frequency signal-flashing rates were involved in more automobile collisions than lower-frequency signal-flashing rates.
Given the results of both the study and the report, the automobile manufacturer decided that it's in the best interests of society and for that automobile manufacturer's consumers to reduce the frequency of the signal-flashing rate. The manufacturer sent out the adjustment in a software update.
Tuesday: You are driving the same automobile. It has received a software update. When you signal to make a turn, the signal flashes at a rate of once per second. Concerned, you take time off work and visit a mechanic. The mechanic charges you $50 for a diagnosis. Mystified, the mechanic then searches the Internet for the symptom, just as you could have done. The mechanic's explanation is that the automobile most likely received a software update.
You have gained: a day of worry and a lesson learned. You have lost: time from work and $50. The automobile no longer behaves the same way as the day you test-drove it, prior to its purchase. The automobile has become "fluid" and appears to require that you adapt to changes from its manufacturer, after its purchase. If you do not enjoy those changes, you can purchase another automobile and no automobile manufacturer will complain about that activity. In fact, since all automobile manufacturers issue software updates, you will most likely need to adapt to any automobile manufacturer's lively changes. If you opt to purchase an ancient automobile that has no software updates, a day eventually arrives that mechanics indicate that they haven't learned how to diagnose old automobiles like that and they have come to rely upon software for diagnosis; that you should buy a new automobile; that doing so is also safer and better for everyone.
Wednesday: You complain about the state of automobiles and software updates.
Friday: You are driving an automobile. The automobile receives a software update. The automobile is involved in an accident. You are unable to express further complaints about the state of automobiles and software updates.
Hooray for imagination.