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Gitlab cancels plan on tracking user behavior on GitLab.com

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Re: Gitlab cancels plan on tracking user behavior on GitLab.com

#51

Post by Sir_Cmpwn »

lbotos wrote: post #48
Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #36

I don't understand, what changed? This was last updated on the 24th. They said they'll be re-evaluating it and returning later, but afaict they haven't made any statements about a blanket cancellation of the telemetry roll-out.

An email is being sent right now, but emailing at scale... takes time: ---8 Dear GitLab users and customers, On October 23, we sent an email entitled “Important Updates to our Terms of Service and Telemetry Services” announcing upcoming changes. Based on considerable feedback from our customers, users, and the broader community, we reversed course the next day and removed those changes before they went into effect. F…

Thanks! That context is sorely needed in their web channels.

Re: Gitlab cancels plan on tracking user behavior on GitLab.com

#53

Post by falcor84 »

robszumski wrote: post #44
falcor84 wrote: post #35

Could someone here please explain to me why Gitlab's product managers would be so interested in client-side analytics in the first place? From my familiarity with their service, almost every operation requires an ajax call, or a full page refresh. Is there really that much value for the product managers in these additional analytics?

Even anonymous cohort analysis can be super useful as a product manager. If you want to encourage usage of a particular feature and the most successful users of that feature fit into a cohort, you can reach out to them for feedback, optimize paths between those features, improve documentation connecting relevant features together, etc. This doesn't mean its malicious or all about the $$$...it might be that users that…

That's an interesting point. But wouldn't the vast majority of Gitlab users be signed in (and thus server-side trackable)? Pretty much all functionality other than just reading code seems to require it.

Re: Gitlab cancels plan on tracking user behavior on GitLab.com

#54

Post by catalogia »

mobee wrote: post #52

The real reason you shouldn't be using GitLab is performance. How is it possible that that page took over a minute to load? Nevermind that the design is completely incomprehensible.

I make a habit out of pushing to both gitlab and github. Even if github is technically superior, I don't think we're served well in the long run by monocultures.

(But yes, gitlab's web interfaces are generally frustrating. Slow, bugged, or just organized in ways I find challenging.)

Re: Gitlab cancels plan on tracking user behavior on GitLab.com

#55

Post by swasheck »

mobee wrote: post #52

The real reason you shouldn't be using GitLab is performance. How is it possible that that page took over a minute to load? Nevermind that the design is completely incomprehensible.

further down the thread are mentioned of ruby on rails.

i use gitlab because it allows me > 1 private repo. if there are better solutions then i'm all ears.

Re: Gitlab cancels plan on tracking user behavior on GitLab.com

#56

Post by epoch_100 »

igreulich wrote: post #39

I don't see where it is canceled. The closest thing I see to canceled, is postponed. From the update: 'We will not activate user level product usage tracking on GitLab.com or GitLab self-managed before we address the feedback and re-evaluate our plan.' That leaves a lot of wiggle room.

"Further, GitLab will commit to not implementing telemetry in our products that sends usage data to a third-party product analytics service."

That seems like a pretty solid indication that the plans are cancelled.

Re: Gitlab cancels plan on tracking user behavior on GitLab.com

#57

Post by madprops »

zapita wrote: post #9
tyteen4a03 wrote: post #2

This comment, from the CFO, is particularly nasty: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/merge_requests/14182#no...

You may or may not agree with that comment, but it is not nasty. What is nasty, on the other hand, is the vitriolic reaction to it. So far I count 16 "middle finger" emojis, including one with the subtitle "incompentent or malicious CFO". In what world does a disagreement over the right level of telemetry justify this kind of behavior? It's mind-boggling to me how entitled and aggressive the open-source culture is al…

It's a way to send a message across. Before things turn irreversibly nasty.

Re: Gitlab cancels plan on tracking user behavior on GitLab.com

#58

Post by tyre »

The reaction to this whole saga has been insane. Chill out people.

They fucked up, users gave feedback, they listened.

This isn't some corporate conspiracy, some grand ethical dilemma with an evil company on one side and some white knight hackers on the other.

Let's imagine for a second that they are people trying to do the right thing, with years of history doing the best they can.

They wanted to measure usage to make their product better. People seem to disagree, which, okay, but the outrage here is everything wrong with the internet.

Re: Gitlab cancels plan on tracking user behavior on GitLab.com

#60

Post by colechristensen »

tyteen4a03 wrote: post #2

This comment, from the CFO, is particularly nasty: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/merge_requests/14182#no...

What?

>I don’t understand. This should not be an opt in or an opt out. It is a condition of using our product. There is an acceptance of terms and the use of this data should be included in that.

In what way is that "nasty"?

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