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Microsoft/.Net Foundation added telemetry to the dotnet command line last year

opinionatedgeek.com

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Re: Microsoft/.Net Foundation added telemetry to the dotnet command line last year

#21

Post by bjpbakker »

orf wrote: post #3

For reference, they collect[1]: The command being used (for example, "build", "restore") The ExitCode of the command For test projects, the test runner being used The timestamp of invocation The framework used Whether runtime IDs are present in the "runtimes" node The CLI version being used I'm actually OK with this to be honest. Here is the telemetry code itself: https://github.com/dotnet/cli/blob/5a37290f24aba5d35f…

> For reference, they collect

That's not all that matters. IMO the real decision is: do you /trust/ MS ? Do you trust that they anonymize collected data and that they won't secretly change collected data? Do you trust future MS with that information.

> I'm actually OK with this to be honest

That's perfectly fine if you trust them. Many people don't. Personally I wouldn't trust any dev tool that uploads my usage.

Re: Microsoft/.Net Foundation added telemetry to the dotnet command line last year

#22

Post by cm2187 »

orf wrote: post #3

For reference, they collect[1]: The command being used (for example, "build", "restore") The ExitCode of the command For test projects, the test runner being used The timestamp of invocation The framework used Whether runtime IDs are present in the "runtimes" node The CLI version being used I'm actually OK with this to be honest. Here is the telemetry code itself: https://github.com/dotnet/cli/blob/5a37290f24aba5d35f…

Well, as long as you make sure that the project name doesn't give away anything that could compete with a Microsoft product or that would leak information about some confidential product you are working on...

It's not just independent devs that are using .net. And the name of the company appears often in the assembly.

Re: Microsoft/.Net Foundation added telemetry to the dotnet command line last year

#24

Post by pricechild »

shakna wrote: post #20
merb wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

do you actually inspect every github commit, that this won't change?

It already has. [0] [0] https://github.com/dotnet/docs/pull/2706/files

One of the items added:

> +- Geographical location†

I feel like that's one of the pieces of information I'd expect a new opt-in or notification to appear for at the very least. Did that happen?

Re: Microsoft/.Net Foundation added telemetry to the dotnet command line last year

#26

Post by RubyPinch »

"You should be able to run a command that doesn’t use the network, knowing that it won’t open a network port." Is the reader supposed to stop reading there? Because they must be using a different dotnet than everyone else, considering microsoft's dotnet does package management and download iirc?

"I don’t want your tools spying on you either." how virtuous. Some people don't care though, some people actually prefer it

Re: Microsoft/.Net Foundation added telemetry to the dotnet command line last year

#27

Post by nitinreddy88 »

blub wrote: post #19
0xcoffee wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, when you run `dotnet restore`, you get the following message: Welcome to .NET Core! --------------------- Learn more about .NET Core @ https://aka.ms/dotnet-docs. Use dotnet --help to see available commands or go to https://aka.ms/dotnet-cli-docs. Telemetry -------------- The .NET Core tools collect usage data in order to improve your experience. The data is anonymous and does not include command-line arguments…

The author must not be used to the new spyware-by-default mentality coming from Microsoft. Hard to believe, but they used to sell products a while ago and had no telemetry. If you want to see how it's done properly, look at OmniGroup: their apps have toggleable telemetry and it's off by default.

@blub can you explain me how it's exactly "spying on you"?

There is difference between collecting information about how many people are using vs whether a particular person is using.

Collecting diagnostic information from windows application failures/how many failures etc are there ever since Windows 95 era.

Similarly, collecting information about how many people are using dotnet core build/test/publish is similar to how Google/Mozilla tracks how many users are running which version of their product and experience issues.

If Microsoft/Google/Mozilla or any other company uses that information to identify a specific person is "effectively spying on you". Until that's not there, the same functionality exists in almost every product. Just click bait article.

Re: Microsoft/.Net Foundation added telemetry to the dotnet command line last year

#28

Post by nolok »

blub wrote: post #19
0xcoffee wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, when you run `dotnet restore`, you get the following message: Welcome to .NET Core! --------------------- Learn more about .NET Core @ https://aka.ms/dotnet-docs. Use dotnet --help to see available commands or go to https://aka.ms/dotnet-cli-docs. Telemetry -------------- The .NET Core tools collect usage data in order to improve your experience. The data is anonymous and does not include command-line arguments…

The author must not be used to the new spyware-by-default mentality coming from Microsoft. Hard to believe, but they used to sell products a while ago and had no telemetry. If you want to see how it's done properly, look at OmniGroup: their apps have toggleable telemetry and it's off by default.

> The author must not be used to the new spyware-by-default mentality coming from Microsoft. Hard to believe, but they used to sell products a while ago and had no telemetry.

Yeah well you and the author's first clue should have been when you stopped paying for said products.

And in this specific case, it's really not spying, it reveals pretty much nothing about you and help them figure out what is used and what fails.

Re: Microsoft/.Net Foundation added telemetry to the dotnet command line last year

#30

Post by merb »

pricechild wrote: post #24
shakna wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It already has. [0] [0] https://github.com/dotnet/docs/pull/2706/files

One of the items added: > +- Geographical location† I feel like that's one of the pieces of information I'd expect a new opt-in or notification to appear for at the very least. Did that happen?

well even if they do that now, there is no guarantee that a future release will remove notifications.

just look at the automotive industry in germany. if you give them trust, they probably will do shady stuff, no matter how good their initial behavior was.

never trust a company.

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