I run Gentoo, which has a telemetry use flag. This will enable telemetry for a number of packages.

I hate telemetry on non-FOSS software like Windows, but is there real harm in doing it with FOSS software? I like to think I’d be helping the devs create better software.

https://packages.gentoo.org/useflags/telemetry

  • @j4k3
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    41 year ago

    Up to you, but it can benefit devs and users. I just used a bunch of telemetry about GPU hardware that came from a Stable Diffusion project. I could see what basic hardware and kernel were run by ~5000 people, determined ~700 were on Linux proper, what hardware worked, and their SD iteration times. That was helpful for deciding what hardware to buy. Also I used the Linux Hardware Probe website to see what hardware was tested and working on new machines. I highly recommend checking out that project, and scanning/submitting your hardware, especially if you are on a newer OEM machine. It is an incredible resource to use when you’re unsure what to buy.