He said "chosen at the setup screen".

They could easily have two options: "Install everything from the get-go (RECOMMENDED)" blinking and flashing and a tiny option in text-only link below that, labeled "Manual install" (everyone hates everything manual). And the user would need to type in a CAPTCHA and click a big "I know what I am doing" checkbox to have the phone accept the "manual install" variant.

And "manual install" comes with nothing but Settings and App Store. I mean nothing. Not even the "phone" and "camera" apps. No thing.

That would be absolute bliss.

And phone makers will never never never do that, because all these devices are sold as data vacuums first and usable devices second. Try buying ANY non-smart TV nowadays. Try it, look for a non-smart TV. Set your budget to the moon, if you must, but there will not be ONE model that is not hoovering your data.

I understand this is a partisan fight issue, our policy of most rationality vs. their utter barbarism type of discussion. But please:

Air traffic safety is an important service. Why would that need funding from the government, if so many customers need and purchase that service?

Every flight passenger is using this service to get from A to B safely. Every flight passenger is buying a ticket that includes all sorts of fees and taxes, including airport security. (we disregard a debate about the TSA for now).

Why don't all airlines PAY for the FAA service proportional to the number of flights they perform? Why would "the taxpayer" have to fund and subsidize "the airline passenger"? Why would the state go into more debt to pay for something that is a commercial service to a select few people, many of which are tourists or foreigners who don't even pay US taxes in any substantial amount.

Use a service -> pay for that service.

If John is purchasing a flight ticket and boards an airplane, his ticket must include all the costs required to do that safely. John cannot expect some random Steven and Michael to pay for that with their taxes. It's John's flight. John pays for John's safety. Steven and Michael aren't traveling right now and so they don't pay anything. If they were to travel later, they, too, will pay for safety of THEIR flights, respectively.

Everything else is immoral. I don't understand why this is an issue at all.

I was just thinking about this exact idea a few days ago. Sadly, unless they allow the community to organize an Open Source project, a Linux based client can not be done with the resources that they have. If they offered the community a chance to go at it, I am sure they would find LOTS of volunteers... me being one.

I know, right? Most every device out there that has GPS, also has required navigation added onto it. I just want to know where I am, I can already figure out how to get to where I want to go as long as I know where I am.

Your vision is poor. It will return to the Antebellum economy but now, with no obligations to the individual 'slaves'. Sure, the "economy" will be smaller, but wealthy individuals don't need much beyond what 'slaves' can provide. All of the things that are being sold to you right now are not necessary to life in a pre-industrial society. The only industrial type things they will need are weapons, and nuclear bombs are enough to prevent an invasion (in theory).

I keep hearing this, and I have seen proof of this; however, that claim just does not sit right with me. I think debt is far more nuanced than a simple good/bad determination and the good sides are trotted out when they likely shouldn't be.

I am guessing you haven't heard of breeder reactors?

They don't care for reasons they choose not acknowledge.
Their revenue appears unconnected to Slashdot importance, or is sufficient without the effort to restore quality. I find this interesting.

That's why they choose not to respond to (not the same as "ignore") valid criticism. The enshittification of Slashdot is deliberate. It's easy money for minimal effort.

Slashdot owners could easily replace editors with AI and arguably should since the threshold for acceptable "quality" has been so low for so long no one would notice.

While there are some crazies out there yelling about frankenfood and such, the real resistance to GMO is the IP ownership issues surrounding it. Farmers have been sued for GMO grain from another farmer's fields 'infecting' their own. Most of those lawsuits were actually legit and the farmer was trying to skate by, but even one lawsuit against a legit farmer is WAY too much.

( CAPTCHA is evolve, this is ridiculous )

Do you really belong on Slashdot? He didn't hack the damned thing to get clean floors. He hacked it because he was curious about what it was doing (or not doing).

Have you fallen into 'old man who yells at the clouds' mode?

No. Conspiracy brought us here. Conspiracy by people with a LOT of money and power. None of this is emergent behavior, it was all pre-planned over 70 years ago.

ROFLMAO

(at best, they never lied about anything that was important to you, but they most assuredly lied)

You are an idiot. This is not an either/or situation. It is an AND situation. In other words, why not both? WTF is wrong with people like you?

I peaced out on all consoles with the PS3. I was in the middle of Iraq and bought a secondhand PS3 for dirt cheap. I went out and bought a game disc for it to play... and the game wouldn't even launch without getting an update. An update. In a combat zone. In the middle of the desert. From a freshly bought disc.

The disc was useless. It didn't have to have any data on it at ALL because it was programmed to download the game when you inserted the disc. They had no intention of all of providing a playable game from the start.

Fuck Sony and fuck Microsoft and fuck Nintendo. They can all lick my balls. None of them have received so much as a penny from me since that day. No matter how or what they change, I will seek their destruction for as long as I am alive.

Locks were perfected over a thousand years ago in the Middle East. The only thing new is the materials. The only reason the public does not have easy access to quality locks is that their governments prohibit them from doing so. I wonder why that is.