No. You can give your email and it enables some additional functionality such as iCloud if you want to opt in to that but it’s not required.
When it asks if you have an Apple ID (which can be any email address) there is a skip button in very plain language on a very uncluttered screen where it is very easy to read.
And no, it never asks for a phone number. You are free to add one later though if you choose. But the OS doesn’t want it or use it...
The only place I can think of where you can put in your phone number is the Messages app, which is not even part of the OS.
You would do this on your own initiative by the way, not requested by the app or by the OS. Putting your number into that allows SMS messages to appear on your computer.
You can set up a Mac or iOS device without ever logging into an Apple account. The only place it is "required" (well, not strictly required , but I guess an iOS device is not that useful otherwise) is for the App Store to get apps (someone correct me on this but I'm not sure you can download free apps without an Apple account, and there's a way, although convoluted IIRC, to create one without entering credit card details)
Last I heard, you can't download any apps without signing in with an Apple ID. Since sideloading is impractical on iOS, this would make the phone not very useful as you can't install any software.
Where/when did you encounter that? I used a Mac machine for awhile without even logging into iCloud/Apple ID; I don't recall being asked for any personal info beyond what's required to set-up the machine.
Off-topic, out of curiosity: what distro are you running on the MacBook, and how's that going?
Well, when there is only one App Store and it requires you to log in, it in effect means you have to have an Apple ID -- which is a far cry from being forced to give up your phone number to use your own personal computer.
When it asks if you have an Apple ID (which can be any email address) there is a skip button in very plain language on a very uncluttered screen where it is very easy to read.
And no, it never asks for a phone number. You are free to add one later though if you choose. But the OS doesn’t want it or use it...
The only place I can think of where you can put in your phone number is the Messages app, which is not even part of the OS.
You would do this on your own initiative by the way, not requested by the app or by the OS. Putting your number into that allows SMS messages to appear on your computer.