Graphene OS "Laptop" vs. Linux Laptop

Questions
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Hey there PrivacyGuides!

I’ve been a bystander for several months, but now I’ve taken the leap and created an account. This is my first question.

I’ve spend a lot of time perfecting my Pixel Tablet (running GOS) setup to make it as close as possible to a portable suedo laptop setup as possible, with cases stands, mouse, keyboard etc.

I’ve recently installed Fedora on my old Intel 2015 MacBook Pro and find it quite nice and an (obviously) better laptop experience.

My question is however. Which of these two is the most private and secure setup and why? My money is GrapheneOS, but I am not a tech-head at all, so I have no idea. I just install things and follow online guides, so I am not savvy enough to understand code and terms like Malloc, Memory Allocator and other fancy terms and what they mean.

Thanks in advance and can’t wait to contribute to this awesome community.

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2

GrapheneOS would top it in Privacy and Security aspect yes.
Second to me is Secureblue (I know MacOS and ChromeOS are more secure than this but they’re not privacy friendly, get over yourselves people)

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3

I would assume you recommend Silverblue with the brace tools over Secureblue since the macbook doesn’t have TPM or secureboot?

Fedora Silverblue hardened is a very solid setup, and if you prefer a bit of convenience with the laptop over the tabley, this route should be ok. It may be slightly behind the pixel tablet but is the NEED to have the small advantage worth it to you?

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oh huge mistake you’re right I wanted to type secureblue, my bad. You can put your pitchforks back.
And no Macbooks are secure enough I’m talking in both privacy and security aspect.
The Mac can be tweaked to be privacy friendly (through [Limited*] settings mostly) But I’m talking out of the box in this context and GrapheneOS is top 1 for a reason.

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How is your experience using the Pixel Tablet as a desktop anyways? I am curious how simple stuff like productivity and web browsing works. Do you have an external monitor that you connect to it?

I figured it might be doable once the Pixel officially releases desktop mode. No idea how the current state of it works though.

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7

GrapheneOS or just plain AOSP is in a whole different realm compared to any traditional Linux distribution, all of them are decades behind basic security standards when compared to even AOSP or iOS.

Your best bet is using Qubes OS, if you do it correctly it can be a lot better than just a standard Linux distribution, but still not anywhere close to GrapheneOS.

If you just want a Linux distribution, then use secureblue or Aeon and try to keep as many things as possible in a Chromium-based browser by using PWAs and stuff.

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8

Brace does not support Silverblue

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Well, as a tablet (as you typed, don’t wether that’s a typo or not) it’s fine for my needs in terms of light gaming of Hearthstone, NewPipe and Podcasts + general web browsing.

In terms of using it as a laptop (if that’s what you mean) it’s okay at best. The lack of a proper first party keyboard with trackpad makes it subpar, compared to the iPad Pro with Magic Keyboard, which I used gladly before I went to the privacy side.

Something likes this (Bluetooth Keyboard with Touchpad, Ultra Slim, QWERTY, for Windows and iPad OS, KB01105) looks promising, but I live in Scandinavia, so finding a keyboard+trackpad combo WITH a proper ISO Nordic layout is hard to find.

So far I use a compact bluetooth keyboard and a bluetooth mouse, where the button on the side is keymapped, so the back-button is back and the forward button opens the multitasking menu, it makes it easy to navigate around.

And for my “laptop” uses some light spreadsheet work, answering emails, checking banking, web browsing, online meetings etc. it’s solid, a proper 6.5 out of 10, where an iPad Pro would be an 8.5/10 and laptop is 10/10, imo.

Edit: and to prop it up into a laptop angle, I use a combination of the Spigen ThinFit and Moft Snap Tablet Stand. So far, this is the best and most compact solution I’ve come by. And also not using the tablet with an external monitor, since Pixel Tablet doesn’t support this, sadly :-/

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I meant as a laptop! Sorry about that.

That is because USB C video output only support the Pixel 8 and later. Shame that the Pixel Tablet won’t get another model in the near future.

Something that could be question is whether a future GOS Pixel phone with desktop mode can potentially replace a linux laptop entirely. Kind of like a hardened version of Samsung Dex but with a portable monitor and mouse/keyboard setup.

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I’ve been looking into creating a setup similar to yours. I haven’t bought anything towards making one yet, but I came across these devices called “lapdocks” that you might find interesting.

Lapdocks are basically dumb laptop shells—usually just a screen, keyboard, touchpad, and battery—with no CPU or storage of their own. Instead, it relies on the computing power of a host device. You could simply plug in your phone and immediately turn it into a laptop.

I think the most well-known lapdocks are by NexDock that cost around $300 USD, but there are others on Amazon under $170 USD with essentially the same specs. They might be a good fit for your use case.

Also, if anyone can answer, I’m curious if running Linux with Termux might be a good idea? There are desktop applications I’d like to use in such a setup that don’t really have an Android equivalent.

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There will probably be a more worthwhile comparison to be made when the overhauled desktop mode arrives with Android 16 QPR1. At that point GrapheneOS as a desktop operating system should be a no-brainer for anyone who’s work is largely browser based (a large percentage of people).

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I still don’t know if display output works on Pixel 8a and 9a though is my problem though.

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I had no idea. If I had of know about these I doubt if I would have switched to Linux. On the other hand, I am glad I switched to Linux.

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Brace can still work on Silverblue: