As a small "experiment", I've been trying to use only free software for a while (firmware/driver blobs excluded) on my Nexus 7 (2012).<p>I can say that it's definitively doable, but it really depends on what one need. If what you need is a browser (Firefox), an email client (K9 & the standard KitKat client) and a Terminal (ConnectBot, Hacker's keyboard), then you won't miss the Play store at all. There are also some good clients for social/media consummation (Tinfoil for Facebook, Twidere, TT-RSS...).<p>If you need something more, then it's an hit or miss. For maps, OsmAnd+ is nice, but not nearly as good/user friendy as Google Maps. Forget about the latest/cool apps. Forget games, unless you want to emulate some console (and also, running closed games on top of an open emulator is "ethically right"?).<p>It gets better if you're a little more lenient. For example, I have some Humble Bundle games installed. Those come drm-free, and (usually) don't depend on the Google services. One can also get applications from the Play Store, and install just the .apk for it (I can't remember if one can buy applications with the web interface, or has to do it from the mobile store). In the end, the choice is "I want to avoid Google" or "I don't want proprietary applications on my phone". In the first case, there are many alternative stores (SlideMe, AndroidPit, Amazon...).<p>Another problem is that F-Droid is small, and doesn't even have all the (F)OSS applications available for Android. For many, the only way to get them is either the Play Store or compile the source. I'm not blaming the F-Droid project, they're doing a terrific work for their size, but it seems that there's little interest in a completely open store, even from the developers.<p>That said, I'm still running this setup, but I'm considering just giving up and installing the Play Store/Google services because after a while seeing new cool applications but not being able to try them is kinda painful.<p>On a side note, I haven't noticed any increase in battery life/speed of my device. So it seems that Google's applications aren't an huge battery/resource hog.