What's a good Linux distro suitable for rooted Android products?

[0x2620]

I want to root my phone but I'm not sure what exactly would replace the operating system. What software and drivers are needed to send and receive texts and calls? What role does my service provider play in this, if any? If I root my phone can my service provider still identify my phone such that I can use it as a phone?

[jimallyn]

The operating system would not be replaced. The Android OS would remain, as would all the installed applications. All "rooting" a phone does is gives you root/admin access to it. That allows you to access parts of the system that you wouldn't otherwise be able to. It would also allow you to remove all those gawd-awful bloatware applications that come preinstalled on most phones. If you really wanted to actually replace the OS, there aren't a lot of choices at the moment. Perhaps the best is LineageOS, formerly known as CyanogenMod. This is actually still Android, but without all Google's proprietary junk added to it, and with a number of useful features available that aren't in Google's (or Verizon's, or Samsung's, or whoever's) stock OS.

There is work in process to make a real desktop-type Linux run on Android devices. If you want to learn more about that, google for 'plasma mobile' and/or 'postmarketos'.

[0x2620]

You're right, I found the half-remembered post I was looking for on 7chan's Thrifty Living stickied thread. The author described rooting old Android devices and installing AOSP compiled with SEAndroid, then selling them on Craigslist instead of getting a real job.

It's a shame there isn't a good Linux distro for mobile devices given how every update to Android somehow eats more resources.