Unlike android, most GNU/Linux OSes are built so that you can hack around problems on your own pretty easily without having to completely rebuild the OS. Also since you're just running X11/Wayland you have a way larger selection of software available. Almost anything open source that runs on your Linux desktop will run on your phone (although often with less performance.)

Finally, you're not stuck with a PalmOS style mobile GUI and can use a normal overlapping window manager.