The title of the article is misleading. The author says the phone cannot be bootloader unlocked without first connecting to the Internet. Once they have connected they are able to unlock the bootloader.
https://jacobhall.net/2022/01/29/000177/
https://support.google.com/pixelphone/thread/14920605/google...
Support for LineageOS is a key issue for me in the purchase of a phone, so Pixels are desirable as a known quantity. I'm not too bothered about having to "do the thing" because so many other phone brands / models either can't be unlocked easily or aren't supported by LineageOS.
Other comments about Pocophone F1 being compatible with PostmarketOS puts that on my watch list.