Yeah, seeing how every cop looks like an ekeko (starting with a bullet proof vest), I think it’s safe to assume they’re all lethaly dangerous.

Actually, “is it encrypted” is just the tip of the iceberg: it’s all too easy to encrypt in a way that does not provide security against the threats the users want to defend. E.g. maybe the answer to this question is “yes” because the connection is over https, yet the server sees and stores the data in the clear

A possible option is to stick to Debian 13, but use a hand-built kernel, since Debian 13 still includes the i386 port. Of course, it also depends on your exact CPU and other hardware as well as what you want to run in it.

You make it sound like optical mouses were a no-brainer, but they were very much non trivial: it required both ingenuity and fairly sophisticated tech to make them work well.