I'm not comfortable using a version that was abandoned.

A. The Internet permits people to organize faster than the oppressors can react to prevent it.

B. The Internet permits people to discover like-minded others. They will find each other offline if necessary, putting to death the lie that 'everyone is happy'.

C. Encryption will at least complicate the oppressors' surveillance.

So denying access at least serves the oppressors. And denying access is the foundation of efforts against child pr0n and other 'undesirable' activities.

I'm guessing Bitlocker is not useful for encrypting my data sufficiently to keep the government(s) out of it.

And the Truecrypt substitutes are all marginally trustworthy, as well as not quite so fully functional.

Not many good alternatives here.

1. Until the hardware no longer adequately supports the upgraded OS (typically 2-3 years lately)

2. Until the carrier no longer sees any advantage in porting to the new version (variable, but either 2 years for flagship phones or never for lower-end phones)

Don't hope for more than 2 years.

" An operating system would get updates without requiring a complete wipe and reinstallation."

Maybe in your dreams, but that is not a required feature of an OS. Merely a very desirable and perhaps expected one.

Of course, the distinction between 'firmware;' and 'OS' is interesting.

Apple has total control of the hardware platforms they support. Google does not have control over the hardware platforms they support.

This is neither new nor particularly complicated, but Apple fans seem to think it's not that hard to support 6-15 different manufacturers, each releasing new phones quarterly if not more often, and building the software from the supplied image, handing that image to the carriers, who them build their image with the changes they want. And then doing so for updates as the manufacturers AND the carriers wish. For instance, T-Mobile may add Wi-Fi calling and HotSpot, where AT&T may not.

Apple users of course also complain that their 2-3 year old phones perform badly with new software, which is likely due to the increased functionality and demands made... But that's their problem.

The timeframes for Android are not of the same scale as those for Windows. Don't confuse them and then complain.

You write as if the IRS determines the tax code. The IRS is merely the collection agency for Congress. They determine the tax rates, etc.

You also write as if there is only one political party at fault here. Please don't pretend you believe that.

"Specifically, for every dollar spent on the IRS, government takes in 5-7 dollars."

"Customer service wait times, ie help filling out forms, has already more than doubled due to lack of staffing to answer calls. Nearly 40% of callers give up and hangup before even being helped. There's the issue of tax fraud that they are unable to prevent/investigate because of lack of staffing, meaning some of the refunds they payout are fraudlent."

Have you considered that the apparent 'profitability' of the IRS (the 5-7 dollar return mentioned by you) is due to artificially low expenses, such as customer service?

And if the laws are so complex that the IRS needs exorbitant funding to *properly* serve their customers, perhaps the answer is to improve the 'product', i.e. the tax code?

The government doesn't work like a for-profit business. Pretending it does is dangerous. Pretending the job of the IRS is to maximize revenue collected is also admitting you believe government should collect the maximum tax revenue permitted. Our federal government was initially founded as a limited institution. I am no longer certain it is considered as such by our representatives, courts, and the Executive Branch, and, worse, by many citizens. We will suffer for this.

Clearly to zero.

Hence the article, and the questions.

You can blame the Democrats for that, more than one way:

Bill Clinton signed this into law.

S.900 passed the Senate with 52 Republican votes and 38 Democrat votes, and the House with 207 Republican votes and 154 Democrat votes.

The Republicans did hold a majority in Congress, 223 Republicans, 211 Democrats, one Independent in the House, 55 Republicans to 45 Democrats (mostly) in the Senate.

Claims that the Republicans passed this would have to ignore the Democrat involvement.

Had you RTFA, you would know it appears the landing was entirely successful. The darned solar petals, well, RTFA.

Sounds like the Pope is saying you should expect to be assaulted or even murdered for your speech, and that's both expected and tolerable, which is not what free speech is about.

Nor is it what Christianity is all about. Is the Pope in fact Catholic? Is Catholicism Christianity by another name?

Fork.

You're mistreating your dogs. They are not human children.