It sounds easy. But please bear in mind that every OS needs to have:
- Documentation (both in the box and online)
- Software Support for updates and security fixes
- Trained (support) staff on settings, installation, setup, apps etc.
- Signed contracts for all the legal stuff
- Payment procedures for the licenses
- A procedure how to deal with issues: if you have five OS’s and something is wrong, how do you define if it is software or hardware related?
- A flashing procedure for new phones
- A flashing procedure for refurbished phones
- Development time every time a new module is released/updated/altered
And then comes the whole dependence from upstream developers: we are already dependent on both Google and Qualcomm for updates for Android, just imagine what it will do to your workload if you add Ubuntu, Jolla, Mozilla, LineageOS etc. etc. to the mix…
and probably I forget a few things because sometimes I, even though I work at FP, do not see all the parts and logistics.
There are many ideas that make ideologically sense, but that run against the hard brick wall of economics. There will have to change a lot before we can run an economical healthy phone company based on another OS then Android GMS.