if you think your mac or iphone doesn't have similar backdoors, you're being very naive.

the thing about linux is that the kernel is shared. that's what makes a linux distro a linux distro. so, it's harder to say, but it shouldn't be distribution specific.

if i can convince myself that i don't really have admin control over this, and that i'm dealing with some hard-headed cops that won't listen when i tell them that the updates break the machine by design, then i'm just going to have to get used to reinstalling over and over again.