> I don't think most people who buy a Linux phone actually want a Linux phone. They want an open-source phone. The Linux philosophy isn't important to them, they essentially want open-source iOS
Seems like the phenomenon of people choosing Linux, only to choose a windows manager that makes the entire thing look like a non-open OS, fits this same line of thinking. At the end of the day, most people don't care about the particulars of Linux, or its ideologies. They just want an open and customizable OS, and if there's a variant that looks like a more widely-used OS, so much as the better.
If there were more open OS's that were as far along as Linux, it would likely be less popular. The important thing is open-source phones or computers, not Linux ones.
Why the hell do you think those things are related? I can easily make my OS look macOS, windows, something weird inbetween or some pink vapourwave hell from the 90's or some minimalist tiling WM and that's the beauty of it. That's exactly one of the things I want.
I don't use Linux because of a particular DE with presets that let's me mimic windows. If that was all why wouldn't I just use windows.