Sailfish is real linux. It runs wayland and systemd with a user interface in Qt. I can enable developer mode and ssh into my phone and just sudo as much as I want, or just install a compiler and do whatever I want.

Linux was always intended to be used like this, commercially, straight from Linus’s mouth. Development requires time, which requires money, as developers need to eat.

I doubt there are that many people working for free on the kernel, most are paid by hardware vendors and support contracts. The balance between open source and funded development is what makes it work. Having everything be fully open, all the way through the stack, would require a fundamentally different funding model globally, basically overthrowing capitalism. I’m not saying a change of scenery wouldn’t be nice, but we can progress out from under big tech without trying to get everyone to be like Stallman.

Now, what you are really looking for is a Hurd based phone.

It can't be much poorer made than Android, so it sure is better.