Android is open source but without Gapps you can't use 90% of the mainstream apps or certain features (Google Play Services, Frameworks or whatever it's called now). That's why Android without Google is a complete pain, and why microG exists. We're already locked in.

What are trade and business secrets, if not conspiracies? A group of people, acting in concert and in secret, to expand their business at the expense of other companies or consumers.