I'm not sure you understand what StartOS is. It's just an open source Linux distro with a better GUI for self-hosting than Debian, Ubuntu, and other Linux distros. Nobody is "serving" you software. Everything is 100% open source and sovereign. You're just saving time and hassle by using a Linux distro that is purpose built for self-hosting. Ask Evgany and the SimpleX team if hosting with StartOS has ANY sovereignty drawbacks.
When distrowatch?
I suppose @402 Payment Required only goal is to let people become smartest by installing applications by themselves, not by clicking on a button and let the magic happen 🎉
The audience of my channel is different. I like Start9 hardware a lot, but if you can (and I know it's a lot to ask) adopt a paranoid stance by using extremely well reviewed stripped down distros, avoid GUIs, install what you need only, learn how to harden/setup a server and manage users/processes, verify manually, keep bitcoin software segragated from other stuff, and keep yourself well informed about technical/political issues that might require individual decissions on your part as a peer in the bitcoin network.