non-Beta firmware?

There is no supported way to update your device without connecting it to Garmin Connect Mobile/Garmin Express, or by installing one of the betas that have previously been posted. 

You can certainly use an Edge without connecting it to any Garmin services, but there will be limitations you will have to deal with using that method. @toby

Hey @Garmin-Blake.  Thanks for the official response!  If the betas are functionally the same software as their non-beta counterpart, I'm fine with it saying "Beta" in the version string. 

The ability to have all the convenience of a GPSr with maps and navigation and without having to opt-in to the smartphone platforms with all of their tracking is the very reason I'm a happy Garmin customer.  So I very much prefer not letting my Garmins "phone home".

Yet you're posting this using a pc/laptop or similiar which tracks you so what's the difference with using a phone?

Oh my.  That's quite off topic, but there's quite a bit of difference.  This computer has no camera, mic, or GPSr for starters.  It has no list of my friends and family or where I work or go to school.  A few other things too. 

But to your point - yes, "being tracked" to some extent is inevitable. More so every day it seems.  But to recite a pretty good saying, "Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good".  It's like, I lock my doors.  Sure, anyone could toss a rock through the window and come in anyway, but to me and everyone else around me it isn't worth trying to close that "security hole".  And to me, keeping my GPSr with logs of most of the places I go and a pretty accurate record of my fitness level is more like just locking the door.

If anyone wants to wax philosophical about these things or try to open my eyes to new things, feel free to PM me or startup another thread for it.