User tracking & Debian

Posted Dec 1, 2016 8:08 UTC (Thu) by robbe (guest, #16131)
Parent article: Django debates user tracking

> It should be noted that popcon, while opt-in, defaults to "yes" if users click through the
> install process.

How do you figure?
The package is installed by default, but – as far as I can see – does not do anything.
https://anonscm.debian.org/cgit/popcon/popcon.git/tree/de...
has "Default: false". The question is asked with "high" priority, so you are bound to see it (c.f. https://anonscm.debian.org/cgit/popcon/popcon.git/tree/de...) unless you go out of your way to avoid debconf questions … and even then default will kick in.

For testing, I just installed version 1.61 from stable with the whiptail debconf interface. The question /was/ asked, and the "No" answer was highlighted.

User tracking & Debian

Posted Dec 1, 2016 11:11 UTC (Thu) by lamby (subscriber, #42621) [Link] (1 responses)

This is very much the case. Perhaps the article could be updated?

User tracking & Debian

Posted Dec 1, 2016 17:21 UTC (Thu) by jake (editor, #205) [Link]

> This is very much the case. Perhaps the article could be updated?

We just did that, sorry for the confusion.

thanks,

jake

User tracking & Debian

Posted Dec 1, 2016 16:30 UTC (Thu) by ballombe (subscriber, #9523) [Link]

In Debian it defaults to NO.
On Ubuntu it (used to at least) defaults to YES, hence the confusion.
Furthermore popcon.ubuntu.com has been broken for years, so it is unclear popularity-contest on Ubuntu really matter anymore except as a privacy leak.

About apt, in Debian, apt is configured right in the installer to use whatever Debian mirror you like (even your own) so this this is quite different from phoning home. It phones when and where you asked it to.

User tracking & Debian

Posted Dec 1, 2016 17:21 UTC (Thu) by anarcat (subscriber, #66354) [Link] (1 responses)

Ouch: sorry, my bad - I relied on comments from the Django discussions on Github and didn't verify the claim. I have installed Debian probably hundreds of times, but most of those have been automated recently, so I haven't seen that dialog in ages. :)

Apologies to everyone, the article is being correct as we speak.

User tracking & Debian

Posted Dec 1, 2016 21:46 UTC (Thu) by ballombe (subscriber, #9523) [Link]

Also the claim that Ubuntu popcon get 2.8 millions submissions daily is completely overblown.
First popcon only submit once per week, not per day, and second, while Debian popcon remove submissions that have not been updated in the last 20 days, Ubuntu popcon does not do so.
This means 2.8 millions in the grand total of Ubuntu installations that reported successfully at least one, since
the start of popcon.ubuntu.com about ten years ago.

Debian popcon struggles to handle 200 000 submissions by week already. It is unclear how Ubuntu popcon handles it because the website is not regularly updated (see the "Last generated on Wed Jun 22 15:09:05 2016 UTC.") which suggest that the daily processing either fail or is not done at all.