I have not any prior experience with installing custom ROMs, but after trying it out (and getting stuck, and googling and finding answers) I successfully did it. Below is my home screen if anybody is curious:
I use OpenBoard for my keyboard. Unfortunately I am still dependent on Play Store since some of the apps I need can only be found there. Sometimes it feels meaningless committing to this whole thing because I'm not perfectly private; then I think this is better than using a regular iPhone or Android phone.
So far I'm liking it. I am naturally inclined to feel hesitant about using this as my main phone and plugging in a SIM since it's custom, but I'm slowly making the transition.
Feel free to share any beginners advice or your own experience using GOS for the first time. Cheers!
Automatic updates were added about six months ago. https://gitlab.com/AuroraOSS/AuroraStore/-/issues/719
They've been working well enough for me.
To me I love to have control over what I update, I agree with it not being inconvenient. For other it might so it's not really necessary to be mean about it!
Unfortunately I'm experiencing the same thing :( Not too big of a deal for me to do manual updates once every two weeks or so but still an annoyance