[wakawaka28]

People are desensitized to claims of possible product improvements because closed-source software says it's collecting telemetry for that reason too, despite the fact it is used for all kinds of nefarious purposes. While it could be possible to get useful information from telemetry, there's no way for the collector to verify anything about popularity without violating your privacy. I don't think there is anything wrong with having an opt-in system for people who want to be involved while leaving everyone else alone. I think AUR and maybe NPM have voting systems. Github also acts as kind of a voting system, with its stars. Package downloads are a good semi-anonymous metric that works without telemetry. It could be gamed, but if someone was enthusiastic enough to game it then maybe their project should be considered active.