This is not the main reason why it should be open source, nor is "open source" enough, unless we are using a definition compatible with the free software definition. In fact, both hardware and software should be free, documented, and open in order to justify the basic security and privacy claims the manufacturer is making.

As for "open source", the freedom to distribute modified copies (which is not clearly implied) is paramount to anything aspiring to be secure. If a bug is discovered, and a patch is available, the software will remain insecure if the authorized distributor refuses to apply the patch. Free software does not have this problem.

As for the order of your list, all the things you named are very useful indeed, but they are not worth crap unless the entire thing is free software, and the hardware is open and certified by third parties without special interests. One binary blob makes all security and privacy claims a lie, plain and simple. Not an honest mistake, not a misunderstanding: these people surely understand security, so when they start selling "secure" binary blobs, they will be lying through their teeth.

I dunno about voice calls, but messaging, at least, can be Torified, and that would be a much tougher nut to crack.

Oh, he understands everything. He just hates that people are free to express themselves in ways not approved by the ruling elite.

+ 10% more pink on everything. Can't go wrong with pink.

http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2014/02/image/

Stop with space.com slashvertisements already, it's nauseating.

space.com are leeches who are not competent enough to link to the frigging Hubble site. You know, the very minimum of what one can do to credit the work of the people who actually built the space telescope, took these amazing pictures, processed them, and brought them to the masses.

A car that respects the owner's freedom would give full access to the odometer, so the scheme you describe will be too easy to cheat. Instead, it may be necessary to apply the same flat rate to all non-commercial vehicles, and make commercial operators self-report, keeping them honest with hefty fines when they are found cheating.

I am sure there will be willing mechanics, and ways to rip out, disconnect, or fry all of the equipment that either records or transmits data. Free-software cars should also be forthcoming, even if we have to wait another 10 years. After all, they could make cars without software at all, so they should be able to make it with free software only, even if it's behind the curve.

Some folks trust too much
Woe if one is a statesman
Shame on you, Vermont

Or you could just say: "I am 75."

Obviously, you haven't tried not reading it, or you would know EXACTLY what I am talking about. Here's my cure: listen to some Bach, put a drawing of Escher on the wall, and pick up a copy of Enderton's Logic.

Of course not. Whenever anyone gets "found out", a sexy brunette time-policewoman goes back in time an fixes it. Permanently.

You give Pope Francis too much credit. His office is a carbon copy of the office of the high priest, and is a mockery of anything Jesus stood for. Nearly every organized Christian sect starts with rejecting "Part 2" nearly fully, by grossly misinterpreting it.

So, quantity over quality? Really?

All that tells me is that you are probably unemployed.

You forgot to mention why. Why at least 20? Why both fiction and non-fiction? Assuming that everything you read is well-written, what is wrong with only reading blogs and periodicals? What is wrong with only reading non-fiction? What is wrong with only reading fiction? What is wrong with only reading and writing personal correspondence? What is wrong with not reading anything thick for 2 years while writing your own novel?

$ man wife
No manual entry for wife
$