[arghwhat]

The opposite of "purely academic" is not being in the hands of average consumers and/or enthusiasts, nor is it that everything works and is usable.

Case in point: postmarketOS and UBPorts, as well-established and very serious projects with plenty of traction, are not in the hands of the average enthusiast, and still has ways to go to handle even the Pinephone properly.

[627467]

Both pmOS and UBports are 2 of the examples I have in mind demonstrating the conceptual resilience of non-iOS ecosystem: these projects have small and fluid teams and yet manage to support dozens of devices with different HW requirements. iOS devices are so homogenous, and yet, so hard to them to be the center of these aftermarket efforts.