In general it’s the most secure operating system there is, better than iOS and (pixel) stock android. GrapheneOS is much more resilient to attacks like Pegasus than anything else out there. Some governments in Europe are actually slandering the GrapheneOS project to try to stop people from using it since police can’t get into it.

I think that nostalgia like this is mostly a consequence of society atrophying under fiat. We don't want DVDs and VHS tapes again, we want to feel alive. The potential of human prosperity is so far beyond what most people think nowadays.