I have no idea what the system is, but it could be something as innocuous as automatic updates. In reality, they probably do send some form of diagnostic information, but since the application is open source, it seems unlikely there would be no way to disable that if it exists.
I find it really creepy too. I think it's now become a part of the culture of both the Atom and VS Code communities. If you bring it up everyine rushes to tell you about how to disable the metrics package while ignoring the other packages that sends data to bugsnag. In the case of VS Code there are instructions to disable it by editing the code which means that when you update, it'll be reverted. At the same time, automatic updates are enabled by default, so it effectively can't be disabled. There are also several popular plugins for both editors that come with analytics on by default with minimal to no mention of this in their descriptions.
If that creeps you out, you should probably run a completely closed firewall, where you specifically enable applications' access to the network. I don't know if it is new normal, or old normal, or even normal, but many applications have been doing it for a long time now.
The knowledge/approval part isn't Google Analytics - that's usually built in to whatever uses it.
In the case of Atom, they state quite plainly on first-load that they track usage for the purposes of telemetry/product improvement, and you can opt-out on first-open.
I'm not really sure I see the issue?
Also, usually with Google Analytics you're viewing a remote website (or in this case I suppose you're phoning home for updates on every startup). If they really wanted to, they could just check their webserver logs. It just saves them having to parse it or graph it.
Is there some particular new information you're concerned or worried about leaking, that they don't already have?
> The knowledge/approval part isn't Google Analytics - that's usually built in to whatever uses it.
That's right, GA is the malware and websites / apps that use it are distributing malware. Sort of like SourceForge distributing malware with its installers.
> I'm not really sure I see the issue?
Do you have an issue IRL if someone follows you around, taking notes of every where you go? I do.
It was the new normal like 15 years ago. Almost every major application phones home to deliver bug reports, telemetry, check for updates, etc. Read the terms and conditions of apps when you install them next time.
