[epicide]

> It feels a bit strange when some of us want the benefits of what this telemetry may give (a better product, perhaps?) while not willing to conceive information to improve it.

I don't think this is representative of the mentality, though. Just because you would benefit from the product improving and would like to see it improve doesn't mean you have to agree with any means of doing so.

While I understand there are benefits to telemetry, I don't think it's fair to make it out like it's the only way to improve a product or that there are no comparable alternatives. Much less that anybody being allowed to opt-out completely ruins the benefits of telemetry.

If anything, if you're in favor of telemetry in VSCode, you should be pushing for (clear and verifiable) opt-out, as that means your own data and use cases get a bigger say.