QUIK is a more up-to-date version of QKSMS. Not the most important thing ever, since SMS/MMS are inherently insecure, but it's just good to always make sure you have up-to-date versions of things.
Have never had a problem using a VPN with programming.dev
Honestly, since I can see the source code and confirm that it isn't sending my data anywhere, I think it's ok, even if it doesn't meet the standard definition of foss. The keyboard is also pretty dang good, but I have two complaints. 1. I want to be able to resize the height of the keyboard. 2. The swipe typing sucks. As soon as those two things get fixed it's easily the best keyboard on Android for me.
Did you read the post you replied to? They said financially liable. Read through the quote you responded with and tell us where they are held financially liable. They are (rightfully) mad that it's the taxpayers that are effectively paying out the settlement instead of the police force.
For the uninformed, what exactly is this apparent situation that happened?
And you can already get these forks through your fdroid client by adding the IzzyOnDroid repo! There's also the calendar that released!
I'll comment and agree with most of the people who have already commented who recommend Linux Mint. It's very good for beginners. Alternatively, you can also take a quiz found at distrochooser.de to get an idea of which distros may be right for you.
That is the default I believe, yes
This looks like an amazing class! I would absolutely take it, it looks awesome to me.
You can in fact change the handler to NewPipe! Navigate in your settings to wherever your screen is that shows you a list of all your apps. Navigate to YouTube (assuming you have that installed, skip this step if you don't have it installed), and find the "Open by default" option (might be named differently depending on your Android provider), and disallow the option to open supported links. Now go back to your apps list and find whatever NewPipe application you use (I use the Sponsorblock fork for instance), click the "Open by default" option again, make sure it's enabled, then there should be a list of links supported. For the types of links you want supported, make sure they have a check box by it, and you should be good!
HeliBoard is a good foss option that has autocorrect and stuff! You can also give it swipe typing by supplying your own proprietary blob, so that's neat. Better than using a non-foss keyboard!