by bernoufakis | 2025-07-25 07:03:39+00:00
Unfortunately I don't think they do.

Disclaimer, I am a GrapheneOS user. I was introduced to GOS by Louis Rossmann initial 2 or 3 videos talking about giving them a FUTO grant, as well as praising GOS and showing how it easy it was to install, and how it gave back control to the user, and all the good things that GOS genuinely provides.

I have (unfortunately) followed this saga and went down the rabbit hole since the very beginning. To my understanding based on publicly available data, the key "evidence" put forward by GOS developer(s) / community manager would be:

1. Louis Rossmann leaving the now pinned comment "Informative but unfortunate" on TechLore's video on the leadership of GOS. They claim this is Rossmann showing support for Techlore and his community to (allegedly) harassed the (at the time) lead developer of GOS.

2. Louis Rossmann having KiwiFarm account. Yes, KW is a cesspit. However, all of Rossmann's message on the board mostly focus on either addressing misconceptions about himself, or promoting right to repair and similar topic. This can be easily checked, and at no point there is any public evidence of him supporting harassment toward the GOS developers.

3. Louis Rossmann being acquainted with leadership of other de-googling Android OSes (CalyxOS mainly I think) and also giving them a FUTO grant.

Essentially, "guilt by association". I know this because I have asked the community manager (goes by mbananasynergy on HN, and similar aliases on other platforms), and that is what they provided as "evidence" for Rossmann being guilty of harassing or promoting harassment against them (along with mentions of having 2 millions of USD worth of backing and ready to sue Rossmann, which has not materialized as far as know since ~1.5 years ago).

I want to preface by saying that GOS is really a good software, I have been using it for 2 or 3 years since then, and no complaints on that side. My biggest gripe however, is indeed with the leadership and management of the community.

I created a new account instead of posting this with my main because the leadership is in my experience very abrasive, to say the least. I have been banned without appeal from their Mastodon for leaving "thumbs up" smiley on : 1) messages suggesting the GOS devs to do an interview with Rossmann (as he did with other projects that received a FUTO grant) to further spread the word, or 2) messages suggesting to clear up the misunderstanding between the devs and Rossmann.

Any disagreement on their official narrative, or contrary opinion (even in good faith) leads to bans if they are in control of the platform, and accusations of collaborating with groups that harass the developers. Even here, anything contrary to that narrative will receive the usual wall of text describing the poster as sockpuppets, harassers directed by Rossmann, Techlore, CalyxOS, or any other projects GOS developers are beefing with.

I am disappointed by the situation, because I think GOS could have a larger presence and contribute to raising awareness about the importance of data security, but their leadership seems to be a considerable roadblock on that direction.