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 Note is just for information. I don't care if monero is delisted on every cex.

But if I would use haveno, is there a installation guide? Last time I checked, it was more than just one package/app to install. 
 Check on their site, at the bottom they link articles for installations or guided trading 
 I got no idea about Haveno. But I can highly recommend you to use Bisq instead.

Bisq is 100% on Tor, you only trade P2P, but you need at least some bitcoin to start trading, even monero, like 0.02 btc. Because the security fund can only be through BTC.

If you try to scam someone and you failed the dispute, you lose your security fund, it is something like 20% transaction fund. So there aren't any scammer there,  at least I never meet one and I already made more than 20 transactions there.

Starting the application may sometimes be problematic (many bugs or tor attack which prevent the app to launch properly), but if you run a full bitcoin node on your computer, there won't be any more problems at startup. 
 I dont know when you first tried using Haveno, but it is fairly simple now

https://haveno-reto.com/ 
 is it easy to obtain monero on haveno-reto if all I have is cash, or do I still need some kind of crypto  money to put up as collateral in order to begin using  the system? 
 You still need some monero as collateral 
 this is the exact same problem I had with bisq. it helps to reduce the number of times you have to interact with a CEX or KYC yourself, but it doesn't completely eliminate it. you may still have to do it at least once.

what I am still trying to wrap my head around is, on localmonero and even localbitcoins it was possible for a person to buy coins without already having them. there were always some sellers who would let you send maybe a hundred bux even if you had no account history or anything, and there was never a deposit or collateral.

 someone told me that bisq and haveno can't have this because then people will just initiate orders they have no desire to fulfill, as a form of spam attack that locks the seller's coins for a time, and that this is insurmountable without making the security deposit mandatory. but if localbitcoins and localmonero ran fine for years without this being a breaking problem, why isn't it possible on bisq and haveno? and why can't there be some other way to prevent spam like forcing the user to submit shares to a mining pool to prove that they are earnest? proof of work was invented to prevent spam. 
 I think it's just the trade-off of both designs. Haveno is decentralized, but requires a deposit. LocalMonero was convenient but easy to take down because it was centralized and operators were known.
I suggest just leaving the deposit on Haveno so you don't need to find some Monero every time you want to use it. And you can take it back any time you want anyway.

I think it would be cool if someone brought back something like LocalMonero, but Tor-only. That would at least make it harder to take down (maybe implement optional multi-sigs too?). It would just have to build trust with the community over time similar to DNMs. Would help those who need to get their first Monero for the deposit, or those who value the convenience more. 
 I just got around to trying the bisq2 beta. it is in the AUR. bisq2 added a mode that is closer to localbitcoins, where everything relies on trust and reputation and there is no requirement for a security deposit. but the number of offers where the seller has any reputation is very small at the moment and I am afraid to take the offers. this is also the only method that is part of bisq2 and no other methods are working right now. you'd have to buy bitcoin on bisq2 and then go through something else to get monero if you want to start from nothing. bisq2 wants to add back monero support but they pushed it to the very end of their roadmap. a haveno2 could fork bisq2 and make monero a first class citizen. 
 Just like @Schroedinger said maybe you can try to use robosats for getting some initial funds.

You can trade Face to Face or even through amazon gift card. A small amount is fine to avoid the risk of huge loss. 
 I can trade with you with amazon gift card or wise. I have both xmr and btc on me. I can go on robostats, make an offer of payment through amazon gift card or wise, make it small like 100€.

I live in France, I am not sure if you can pay me through amazon gift card.

I can't rob you on robostats, I think, since it is multisig wallet, you need to validate that you received my crypto for the deal to close. 
 Why not ask here if someone is going to send you the security deposit. I don't find your XMR address in your profile. Else I could have sent you the money. 
 And then the only thing I'd ask you is to pass it on to someone who is in the same situation than you now. 
 No you can't. You need to own some monero on your own first.
Why, for paying the security deposit.
The goal here is to discourage scammer. So if a scammer is trying to scam you $100 and he fail, he will lose $120.

That is why scammers are very rare on Haveno or Bisq.

If you have no monero right now, but you have btc, you can trade some of your btc for monero with Bisq.

If you have only cash. maybe you should buy some kyc bitcoin first then trade them for monero on bisq