For one thing, it would mean that I'd have to pull my kids out of school, pull my money out of the bank and cancel all of my utilities.
Heck, I'd need the equivalent of a degree in tax accounting just to avoid being jailed by the IRS, since I wouldn't be able to use tax software. (Not that this would matter, since I have to use *aaS stuff to pay my mortgage and insurance and collect my paychecks, so my taxes would be simpler next year.)
Even if I somehow managed to connect to the Internet without indirectly paying for a SaaS, I wouldn't be able to browse it in practice without agreeing to ToS contracts from companies I haven't even heard of.
Don't agree with the cloudflare, google and aws ToS agreements? Try blocking all their servers (since continuing to use the services implies agreeing to continuously-updated ToS terms). If you succeed, you'll find that the internet doesn't work at all. You can't even use email normally, since it's unclear what addresses get routed through which service providers, and what terms you have to agree with to "use" their SMTP services.
Anyway, as for the rest, you can pay mortgage by check in the US. No software required.
You can also file your taxes by paper.
As far as connecting to the internet, Stallman somehow manages it, I'm sure you can sort it out.
The private schools, supplementary education and home school resources I know of all operate web sites, including online registration, emails with parents, and so on. The Amish fought this battle in the 1950's and lost badly. The compromise was that Amish kids don't have to go to high school (whether that's private, public, or home-schooling):
https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/social-organization/ed...
> Anyway, as for the rest, you can pay mortgage by check in the US. No software required.
To process the check, my bank has to have an ACH backend. That's a software service. I can't run my own, and it's likely using GPL software.
> You can also file your taxes by paper.
The IRS does not accept cash unless you call them first (requires a phone, which is a service), or pay at a retail partner (likely also requires use of some sort of service or agreement to a ToS. Plus, payments are limited to $1000.): https://web.archive.org/web/20230514105205/https://www.irs.g...
Also, I don't think there's any way to get them to mail you your refund in cash.
How do you suggest downloading and printing IRS forms and reading the directions explaining how to fill them out (and which forms you need) without using their website (and therefore third-party services)?
> As far as connecting to the internet, Stallman somehow manages it, I'm sure you can sort it out.
The last time I checked, he borrowed internet access from universities and strangers. He slept on couches to avoid agreeing to hotel contracts, but I think ultimately ended up compromising his principles by purchasing commercial airline tickets.
Also, I'm not a celebrity, so it would be harder for me to get random people to let me sleep on their couch.
How does he do that? Even Google didn't want to take the time to battle ISPs.
