less functionality than a smartphone

Tablet is just a bigger screen

A bigger screen is more functionality.

Petition: “Please prevent this shitty behaviour?”

Government: “There’s nothing in law preventing this shitty behaviour.”

“Yes, we’re asking you to change the law you dipshits!”

Our government is just an appalling joke at this point.

Uhhh… recent? Did you perhaps miss https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Computer_Entertainment_America,_Inc._v._Hotz ?

This is not news. The man’s job was to make profitable games, not good games.

PostmarketOS isn’t a free software OS.

The processer has Linux support though.

I said it’s no good for free software OSes, I didn’t mention Linux. I’m not sure what you think it means for Linux to support a processor or why you think that’s relevant. Linux can be and often is used with non-free OSes.

No, it does not mean any of the projects you mentioned will be unavailable. None of those projects are free software OSes.

all but a very slight number of niche phones

I’m pretty sure there are a very large number of phone models on the market with headphone sockets.

I’d have to compromise on a bunch of other features

Right. That’s the choice. As with everything one buys. And which nobody has taken away.

FOSS ROMs

What do you mean?

Rockchip RK3399(S) is the best you can get in terms of freedom. The rest are much of a muchness.

you can absolutely make custom ROMs/OSes

You can’t however arbitrarily update the Linux kernel

So you can’t make free software OSes.

I am mostly bitter about the manufacturers deciding for me that I don’t need it.

They haven’t decided for you. You make the decision when you choose which phone to buy. It’s entirely your decision.

1. Manufacturers (e.g., Qualcomm, Samsung) won’t return your call unless you buy in huge quantities, hundreds of thousands or millions of units.
2. Lack of documentation.
3. Information restricted by NDA.
4. Non-free binaries required for lots of hardware.
5. Generally lording over the market and exploiting their position, to the degree of anti-competitiveness, and as a consequence artificially extending the rein of non-free software in the mobile domain.
6. Astonishingly poor quality of engineering.

open blob SoC

What do you mean?

There are no good phones due to the way the SoC and modem manufacturers work. The best phones, like the PinePhone or PinePhone Pro, are simply the least bad.

Qualcomm QCM6490

No good for free software OSes then :-(