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0 pointsuseragent866y ago0 comments

> Half of the utilities I install out of the box on a fresh macOS are built in, and the annoying stuff that used to be editing arcane files is now easy preference settings

That's been the case with KDE for 15-20 years now. KDE 3.5 was a great environment (and Trinity (TDE) is a modernized fork of it).

Note that, this year, KDE added telemetry to their Plasma desktop environment. Of course, it's opt-in, so it must be acceptable, right? Well, of course, users who objected to the telemetry found bugs that caused data to be recorded even when disabled.

KDE's response was to ban said users from reddit.com/r/kde and call them "paranoid schizos." (The mods there are KDE members wearing "KDE developer" flair, not random Redditors.)

So, despite using and recommending KDE for almost 2 decades, it's hard for me to do so any longer. I wholeheartedly recommend checking out TDE instead.

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8 comments · 3 top-level

sneak6y ago· 4 in thread

Thanks for letting me know. It looks like the telemetry (kuserfeedback) isn’t even a dep of the Gentoo plasma-meta metapackage, so I don’t think it was even built on my system (but will double check when not on mobile).

If I dabble with debian or kubuntu I will make sure to mitigate it, thank you for making it known, keep up this kind of good work!

It’s a real shame that they found it necessary to even build a telemetry client. I switched to free software after years on macOS (I remember upgrading to System 7) because of all the phone-home that Catalina STILL does even with iCloud, Siri, analytics/crashes, Screen Time, iMessage/FaceTime, Location Services, ntp, App Store, and software update all disabled.

iOS apps in the App Store are all allowed to phone-home like mad, too, and Apple permits this on the basis of you “opting in” to it in the App Store TOS, as if we have any sort of choice on iPhones. It’s totally endemic, and entirely undermines the credibility of Apple’s claims to caring about user privacy.

Seems like spying on users is getting heavily normalized these days. :(

emilsedgh6y ago

The grandparent is overreacting.

1. KDE's telemetry is opt-in (as you mentioned)

2. All data is anonymized

3. You can select which information you're comfortable to share

4. If you have it turned off, the data is recorded on your hard disk.

5. That data was always recorded in order to enable other features like "Recently used documents".

Here's some explanation:

https://www.reddit.com/r/kde/comments/fmgyy9/kuserfeedback/

Honestly, KDE has been one of the most open, privacy aware and idealistic communities out there. The criticism is quite unfair.

(I used to be a KDE contributor)

kirubakaran6y ago

Are you able to address this point that comment made?

> users who objected to the telemetry found bugs that caused data to be recorded even when disabled.

> KDE's response was to ban said users from reddit.com/r/kde and call them "paranoid schizos."

2 more replies

Razengan6y ago

> all the phone-home that Catalina STILL does even with iCloud, Siri, analytics/crashes, Screen Time, iMessage/FaceTime, Location Services, ntp, App Store, and software update all disabled.

Do you have examples of what you mean?

sneak6y ago

I have a bunch of Little Snitch screenshots around here somewhere, but it is easy to reproduce: do a fresh install on spare machine or VM (opt out of all services like iCloud, Siri, Location, MAS, et c), install Little Snitch, and then disable the built-in Little Snitch silent allow rules for “system services/iCloud” or whatever it’s called. Reboot and observe.

eitland6y ago· 1 in thread

Do you happen to have links?

anonymousab6y ago

It appears to be this: https://www.reddit.com/r/kde/comments/f7ojg9/kde_plasma_kuse...

It sounds a bit hyperbolic, but I can't recall a time when telemetry was added to a system and then later dialed back in any way. It always increases.

exikyut6y ago

Echoing the other similar comment, where can I find citations for this annoying drama I now need to take into account?

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse