[vetinari]

> Microsoft can't track you if you just simply... don't install vscode.

Not really true. As the GP wrote:

> It pings MS every time an update occurs

is exactly true. You will ping Microsoft every single time you run 'apt update', even if you have nothing installed from this repo.

Ideally, the repo should be disabled by default.

[mijndert]

The same goes for every repo by that definition. The only solution is to download tarballs and compile everything yourself.

[vetinari]

The difference is that you usually add the specific repos only when you need them. This one is configured and enabled out of the box, by default, for everyone.

I wonder... why so many people on this topic miss the nuances and suggest going into extremes?

[viro]

ah yes every repo is tracking you. -_-

[vetinari]

well, because enabling a repo only when you need it is sooo difficult -_-

[viro]

I have been using linux(slackware) since the late 90's. You are the first person I have ever seen even suggest that as an idea.

[vetinari]

Really? Slackware came with proprietary repos enabled by default? (I don't remember; I had slackware on floppies).

Even Ubuntu didn't do that; their partners repo is off by default, if you want it, you can enable it. Fedora has similar mechanism, where it asks you when you first time run the Gnome Software.