[wsve]

I'm open to being convinced otherwise, but I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't get why opt-out telemetry is such a big deal.

Sure, if it's a software library, I don't want it doing random network calls during my runtime. That's just rude.

But if it's a user application (including a compiler), I don't see what the fuss is about. Of all the myriad of ways our data is harvested every single day, telemetry seems very unhelpful to advertisers and hackers, but very helpful to the people whose job it is to make the software you use better. I'd love to help them make the software I use better

[kingsleyopara]

Privacy concerns aside, I personally don't appreciate binaries making network requests unless it's strictly required for them to function.

[wsve]

Where is that line for you? Is occasionally checking for security updates strictly necessary? Is reporting a crash to the devs so they can fix it necessary? What about sending system & usage telemetry so they can prevent future bugs?

[Zuiii]

For me, it's like GP said: Absolutely no unauthorized network traffic unless strictly required for the purpose of the software (e.g. curl). No security updates, crash reporting, telemetry unless you prompt the user and show the user exactly what will be sent (similar to how syncthing does it).

Anything less is voyeurism.*

* extreme language I know, but it's precisely how I feel about these acts.

[justinclift]

> Where is that line for you?

None of the above is acceptable. Crash reporting can generate its output locally for people to manually send, if they choose to do so.

[_xiaz]

Do you know the definition of the word strictly? No, security and upstream convenience are not even remotely necessary for a tool to work

[0cf8612b2e1e]

You don’t know what they are sending. Maybe today it is innocuous data. Tomorrow, they ship off your ssh keys.

Better to default deny all.

[arp242]

A program that does not connect to the network at all today can also start shipping off your ssh keys tomorrow. Anything can always be added or changed.

[justinclift]

Probably a higher chance of that being noticed though. ;)