On: Unremovable malware found preinstalled on low-end smartphone sold in the US

[droithomme]

Sure, why don't you buy these figure out how to do it then publish easy to understand instructions for the average purchaser to follow. Thanks!

[kick → droithomme]

"Requires domain knowledge" is not the same as "unremovable," so it's a valid question.

[rimunroe → kick]

That’s a needless distinction for the vast majority of users. I imagine anything is removable with enough domain knowledge and the right equipment.

[Jeff_Brown → rimunroe]

"with enough domain knowledge and the right equipment" you could just build your phone from scratch.

Without specialization and trust, there would be no economy, and humanity would be immeasurably worse off.

[alasdair_ → rimunroe]

Once one person knows how to do it, they can document and even automate the process, then other people don’t need to have any domain knowledge.

[okcando → alasdair_]

This may be the dream but is not and has not been the reality of rooting phones and flashing them with custom software.

It's ugly, it's error-prone, and the software that attempts to simplify it doesn't and is of unknown trustworthiness. A very unhappy path.

Absolutely not a reasonable option for the typical user, and an even less reasonable expectation that they should do it or should have known to.