Even though you seem to have a lot of support on Hacker News, I don't think making root access a fundamental right is preferable.

Historically, computers have not granted you access to everything. Most home computers used to have ROM cartridges, which could not be modified, at least not by an average user. Also, when using unrestricted operating systems, such as as MS-DOS, a simple virus could wipe all your hard work.

In our current time, devices are connected to other machines, and the problem of security and privacy has increased dramatically. Unfortunately, we still don't have operating systems that are secure enough to be used by untrained persons. It makes perfect sense to lock down these devices.

I basically see only two ways out:

1. Allow developers exclusive access to development systems, similar to how console development works.

2. Implement a secure operating system.

It will take an extreme amount of effort to do the latter, and it might even be impossible to gradually absorb the mess of interfaces that people and companies expect to work.

So that probably leaves us with the first option. Personally, I would love devices to be locked down more, so that the crazy threats from hackers will be less severe. But I would also love to keep developing software. Having to jump through some hoops is probably unavoidable. The situation could be compared to requiring a driver's license in order to safely drive on the shared infrastructure.

As much as I agree with your sentiment to have freedom, it still seems somewhat overly optimistic to expect this to work in our complex society.

Why? What is the reason root would be dangerous, if it's not the default? People can be scammed to activate it, but those same people can be scammed to click links and give passwords and personal data. Any action requiring root would need a warning and raise suspicion, or put behind an activation mechanism that's complex enough.

Anything else and you lose freedom, and the whole ethos that enabled the advanced IT landscape of today.