Fedora considers "privacy-preserving" telemetry [LWN.net]

Fedora considers "privacy-preserving" telemetry

Posted Jul 7, 2023 11:39 UTC (Fri) by adam820 (subscriber, #101353)
Parent article: Fedora considers "privacy-preserving" telemetry

> However, we also want to ensure that the data we collect is meaningful, so gnome-initial-setup will default to displaying the toggle as enabled, even though the underlying setting will initially be disabled. (The underlying setting will not actually be enabled until the user finishes the privacy page, to ensure users have the opportunity to disable the setting before any data is uploaded.)
> Metrics uploading will be opt-in for users who upgrade from previous versions of Fedora Workstation [...] but metrics collection will be opt-out. That is, your upgraded system will collect metrics locally but will never submit them to Fedora.

I think this is a reasonable compromise to the opt-out/opt-in situation, and an important one for anyone who skips reading the posting. I personally don't mind this kind of data collection for real-world use, but making it a checkable box available in the installer is a good move, instead of something that happens automatically and you have to go off and find in the settings later to remember to turn off if you don't want it. Slap it in as a kickstart option as well and I'm a happy camper.

I think if people really want to see Desktop Linux become more cohesive, user-friendly, and accessible in this age of Steam Decks and increased interest from non-Linux-y types, this is a good opportunity to tackle some of those fronts. I've always had a great experience in Desktop Linux for years, even with relatively recent hardware, but my friend gave Fedora a shot as a daily driver for a week and ran into a bunch of issues with his mixed set of 60Hz/144Hz displays, gaming peripherals, etc. which ultimately resulted in switching back to Windows (for a variety of those and other issues). Getting access to the real-world usage info to improve this experience is going to be - hopefully - a good thing, and I'm hoping Fedora can do this in a really user-privacy protected manner.

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Fedora considers "privacy-preserving" telemetry

Posted Jul 7, 2023 18:11 UTC (Fri) by brunowolff (guest, #71160) [Link] (1 responses)

> I think if people really want to see Desktop Linux become more cohesive, user-friendly, and accessible in this age of Steam Decks and increased interest from non-Linux-y types, this is a good opportunity to tackle some of those fronts.

I'd like to see more attention to privacy in the free software echo system. I don't know that I have too much in common with the kind of person that wants to use Steam Decks. Gog is a much better compromise for using proprietary games in my opinion.

Fedora considers "privacy-preserving" telemetry

Posted Jul 7, 2023 21:44 UTC (Fri) by adam820 (subscriber, #101353) [Link]

> I don't know that I have too much in common with the kind of person that wants to use Steam Decks.

That's fine, but there's lot of people who do, and see it as a way forward for Linux, much like Android phones and every other mass market device. It's getting a lot of people (read: kids) with their hands on a device that runs a full Linux desktop. This is how you get the next generation of people interested in this: the tinkerers, the curious, the gamers, etc. This isn't some computer you have to make an effort to install Linux on, it's already there, by default.

The entire point of the post was "we want to collect data but do it in the most privacy-preserving anonymous way possible, complete with opt-out, full control, and community transparency" and somehow that fails to meet the bar for "attention to privacy".

Be concerned about privacy, sure. It's important. But walk and chew gum; some of us would like a more usable/consistent Desktop experience.