I posted the whole thing on my website here: https://kevux.org/news/2022_06_04-librem_to_freedom.html
The following is the bottom line.
There are bad things about the Librem5 phone. Things have fallen short. Some are the fault of the company. Some are the fault of the current state of the world. Others are the fault of an industry that does not want to sell to customers willing to pay.
I argue that Librem5 has successfully navigated this mess and has thus far survived where all others failed. The Ubuntu Aquaris was defeated by both their Android-like development stack and the industry refusing to sell what Ubuntu needed.
The choice Purism made to design their own hardware has been a gamble. I would argue that this gamble has been worth it. Yes, there are growing pains. I am not happy about some of these pains and I do fault them for their failures in this regard (especially in regards to pictures).
The Librem5 phone is not ready for a regular user. Of course, none of the Linux phones have ever been in my experience. The Librem5 is so close to being ready for a regular user that I can almost taste it (metaphorically of course). Give them a few months. Give them a year. By then I hope to see many of these problems I have described here to be resolved. Give them a few years and I expect they will be able to get a better hardware form factor to be more portable and sleek.
I can get just about any software on this phone. I can use this phone a desktop machine. I can use this phone as a portable radio or satellite communication device. I have only scratched the surface of what is already possible with the current design of this phone. No jails. No hacking. Just using.
I think Librem5 has a chance to win. So long as they do not drop the ball. We are heading into a crazy future where the manufacturing and chipset is in a dire and bleak situation. If Purism can withstand these trials then they will likely have the best phone on the market, despite these growing pains.
I have used several open-source phones. Phones like the OpenMoko Freerunner , I did not get want I wanted. Phones like the Aquaris Ubuntu , I almost got what I wanted and I accepted the situation. Phones like the Pinephone , I got a phone that provides no software and accepted that. With the Librem5 , I got the phone that I wanted and expected.