Wow, I didn't expect to start a conversation with this post, but I appreciate the response.

@nonsuch is absolutely correct, I was using the term FOSS in a very hand-wavey (and wrong) sort of way. I can respect his pet peeves, as I have mine.

I feel like I represent the "average" linux user. I use linux both personally and professionally as a tool. Part of my job involves software development but I am not a software developer so sometimes I get mixed up and say desktop environment when I meant window manager.

@wx9 had it right - the phone is a computer and it should act like one. On android you can modify system files, but the phone re-loads the system ROM on reboot so the change isn't persistent. For that you have to re-flash. That's not how a computer works.

Open-source mobile hardware is extremely rare, and I don't mind if my wifi driver has to be a binary blob if it gets me the experience I am after. It's a compromise. So I guess that's not "FOSS".

@chenliangchen mentioned "freedom to choose which OS to run". I'm not sure that's really so important. I would be happy with one option for the underlying linux system if I could then choose which interface to put on top of it. My understanding is that Maemo did not - and Sailfish does not - have that capability due to parts of the system being closed-source. This may have been where my use of the term "FOSS" came from.

I don't need a variety of different operating systems - just one that's open enough for me to tailor to my needs.

I'll replace the term "FOSS" with linux in the original post and welcome any additions or corrections to the list.

And before someone says "such-and-such device on your list doesn't meet the requirements you just laid out".... yes I am keenly aware of that. I desperately hope that some day one of them will.