[osigurdson]

A user should be able to configure a program (or all programs) such that outgoing communication is not possible, logged or both. It really shouldn't be up to the program to decide what it wants to send as it could easily scan the entire hard drive on the users behalf.

[mostlysimilar]

Little Snitch on macOS and simplewall on Windows. Must-have tools for anyone serious about their right to privacy.

[Sakos]

Have you tried running a firewall with explicit prompts? Everything connects home now. It's infuriating.

[einpoklum]

The majority of FOSS programs don't connect anywhere - although there has been an increase, for sure.

Last year we had an argument this regarding LibreOffice, where an option to collect some telemetry was suggested as a nagging-opt-in. Opponents argued against this because some fraction of our users will press Accept just to get through the installation, or without understanding what they're accepting; plus we just didn't want this kind of mechanism in a respectable piece of software. For now the idea seems to be dead in the water.

[vincnetas]

"The majority of FOSS programs don't connect anywhere" is a very week position. Not sure is english has analogy for saying from other language but it translates to "trust but verify". So parents comment makes sense:

Get a global firewall for outgoing connections.