Everything you say is true. It's been true to some degree since the beginning of consumer-level computing. What is also true though is that open companies like

Everything you say is true. It's been true to some degree since the beginning of consumer-level computing. What is also true though is that open companies like Framework and System76 (who I work for) actually are developing the power and scale to push back on this paradigm and ... sorry for the drama ... bring out a new era of open hardware, software and firmware. It's so hard to claw back freedom from these megaliths, but it is actually happening.