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Thing people buys is what sets the standard.
There currently are a couple of brands that not only doesn't prevent rooting or flashing a new OS, but also provides information on how to do so on their homepages/forums.
If you want consumer rights it is a good idea to support those brands.
When I read through the information from HTC about Unlocking Your Bootloader all warnings appears to be pretty reasonable.
One the OnePlus forums you can find this extensive guide on how to root and unlock the bootloader.

There are more phones you can pick from that supports power users and doesn't try to protect you from yourself.
Pick one of those because this isn't just limited to rooting your phone but is a symptom of a corporate culture.
It is wise to chose one that doesn't think of you as someone who shouldn't make their own decisions.

This is one of the things I hated most when I had my previous phone: software updates can only be had via your carrier.

Or you could install them manually from community ROMs thanks to unlocked bootloaders like HTC offers or aftermarket unlocks. There's plenty of options, sure Apple's system is easier but it's not like it's difficult on Android - depending on whether you did the research on your handset.

More specifically I can't consider Android secure when apps are readily available to root your phone and crack boot loaders by exploiting vulnerabilities that persist for years

I would have modded you insightful but then you had to go and say this...Most Android manufacturers actually facilitate unlocking the bootloader on their devices. As an example, with my old HTC Desire HD, I rooted the phone by following the method laid out on the HTC developer website (HTC Dev, Unlock Bootloader). Also, have a look at the amount of bad publicity Samsung is getting for locking down the bootloader with their Knox implementation, that was the sole reason I decided not to apply the official OTA Android 4.3 update when it rolled around for the S4 GT-i9505 (international version with the quad core snapdragon processor) and went with Cyanogenmod instead.

If I own the device (that is, if the phone is not work-provided or not a contract phone that is still being paid for) and if I want it, I should be able to gain root privileges. There are several things that can not be accomplished without root eg. modifying the hosts file or creating a nandroid backup or removing the bloatware manufacturers like to stick on top of Android etc. Why should I be unable to do that if I am willing to take the associated risks? I have no desire to live in someone's walled garden and I do not want someone else deciding for me what I can or can't do with my computing devices.

...or unfucked android where users actually have control over their devices and software environment which were not constantly engaged in copying everything to vendor servers

With Cyanogenmod, installing Google services was an extra step and if I didn't want to install them, there was no compulsion (I chose to install Google services for the value they add for me since as far as I am concerned, that value out-weighs the privacy concerns, other people are free to choose otherwise and that is exactly how it should be).

Get an HTC. That's what I did. The HTC One M8 is a pretty solid phone. Or get a Nexus phone or the OnePlus One.

I expect your apology immediately.

It worries me that their unlock process calls home for an auth token.

http://htcdev.com/bootloader/

It's not simple for the end user, but it's officially supported on their new phones: http://htcdev.com/bootloader/

Most of the older ones can be easily rooted by the usual shenanigans; then once you install Cyanogenmod it's yours for life. It's much more pleasant than Apple's obsession with keeping you locked out.

http://htcdev.com/

i didn't realise following my manufacturers instructions was considered "breaking" my device.

yes unlocked bootloader is not root, however it allows you to use the required tools which there is no attempt to block.

calling pre-installed apps spyware doesn't make them so.

also a manufacturer not coming up with an update for latest OS is not the same as intentionally restricting what the user can do.

Verizon in fact can't even tell HTC to unlock their phone (not that they would want to) because they aren't allowed to tell the manufacturer how to make their phone.

Oh, is it so?

HTC is committed to assisting customers in unlocking bootloaders for HTC devices. However, certain models may not be unlockable due to operator restrictions. We continue to work with our partners on this, check back often for ongoing updates about unlockable devices.

Granted, nowhere is Verizon mentioned explicitly in regards with the unlockable devices... but neither can be said that Verizon cannot ask HTC to unlock their phones.

That is indeed one of the reasons why this will not work: there are people using all kinds of different OSes, including all the mobile ones, desktop OSes and whatnot. If the UK government were to only allow devices with the trusted computing built-in both the hardware and software they'd be instantaneously removing access for everyone who is used to using mobile devices to access those services.

Another case of government not understanding technology, yet still pushing everyone to adopt it.

oh, i think it understands that part alright. if you have TPM and signing keys to it you can run whatever you like. this is pretty cool feature for servers and workspace hardware. if you have the keys, that's it.

BUT the whole point here is not about technology so much as about taking away people's access to the hardware they supposedly own (which, coincidently, would also nicely decrease number of "kinds of different OSes" people use and even number of their versions). and there are a looot of organizations besides the government that would benefit from such unethical and dirty move. and all of them don't give a damn about how people do and/or want use their hardware. it's about lockdown, it's about using your tech in a way someone else devised for you.

and that "mobile devices" industry you speak of has been like that for years, maybe decades.
ever heard about signed or even encrypted altogether OS kernels; bootloaders that check those signatures and deny boot; boards that modified in a slight, insufficient way to benefit its performance, but sufficient enough to make unfeasible hassle of bringing up its support in another OS without insider knowledge ? you should have, HTC recently made quite a news with graciously giving away keys to some of its customers. a rarity.
all while Nokia's N900 allows you to run Maemo, MeeGo, Android, pure GNU/Linux (which means that pretty much any distribution is not a problem to get running) and this list is short only because:
1) some core software components are still closed and spec-data is not available
2) proprietary OSes vendors have no interest in allowing anyone to run their OSes without their explicit permission since its purchase by end-users is not in theirs business plans, only shoving down users throats by the middle-men is.
it's short but for others it's nonexistent, an even bigger rarity in contrast to the majority where you, a customer, just fucked without an option (and no, being a forced luddite by not buying any tech is not a real option).
a Portable PC, not just "phone" or "tablet", but even Nokia don't want you to have it and deliberately shutting down N-projects and providing shitty marketing and lousy distribution for N900, N9 and refuses to sell N950 altogether.

it's just one small step for this shit coming to desktop, general computing, world. this kind of step.
of course it can be easily mitigated by legislating a law obligating PC vendors giving away keys together with hardware. but who would want that ? not many enough people.

so, "not understanding" that people "using all kinds of different OSes" is not the case here. they just don't give a fuck about people's needs. most people don't give much fuck about their needs even and prefer to lie to themselves that they take joy and happiness in unquestionably serving their abusers needs, bathing in willful ignorance until their very death.

PS: i must say, Slashdot's comment-making page is ugly, awkward, unproductive, slow, as if it were WYSIWYG while actually being embarrassingly featureless, mess.
like it were made to mostly write small, substance-less, inflammatory comments or nothing at all. or maybe i'm missing something.

One silver lining at least is that

HTC is one of the very few hardware manufacturers that does provide official instructions for rooting your own device.

Very informative thread. I'm looking for my first Android and didn't know that microSD ports are useless unless the Apps and stock bundles are designed with them in mind*

It doesn't help that the Desire only has 500MB RAM (really, I'm surprised the rom is the same size). The funny thing is that even the Gingerbread update is almost 200MB. The file sizes of the Android updates on the HTC page have been ballooning, and it's curious that Android as owned by google has only been out since late 2008, and doubled in size. The HTC android updates page shows an alarming, trend, though not new:

Portable/embedded software continues to grow bloated at a pace that portable consumer hardware doesn't care to fix --compare to dd-wrt failing to fit in your tiny router's RAM.

* It resembles Windows devs who took a decade to learn coding guidelines that would finally stop trying to put config files in (now) read-only folders, have a modern "File open" call and use the "My Documents" folders... even longer for Apache to even ship with an installer fully supporting space-containing foldernames, so that it could finally be installed under "Program Files" --that feature wasn't there in 2005 and you got stuck with C:\Apache and would change that "at your own risk"

The continued GPL violations by HTC are the #1 reason why I didnt buy a Desire Z and bought a Nokia N900 instead (the locked firmware/bootloader was #2)

cant find what you want at http://www.htcdev.com/ ?

Or maybe you hadn't looked?

Of course they did...

http://htcdev.com/devcenter/downloads