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Comment by tech_dreamer | Hacker News Reader

I didn't post the original link. MS collects analytics - which I am not comfortable with. Capability matters and intentions can change later. :)

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You could always just set `telemetry.enableTelemetry` to false and continue to use the official builds.

But only if you trust Microsoft to honour that setting indefinitely, and not for example to just change it back later or hide something shady behind another option instead. At this point, a lot of people understandably don't.

It's open source. You could see for yourself. lol

Sure, and then you could check again every time there is an update. But why bother, when there is already an uncontaminated version readily available to solve this problem for you?

How do you know it is uncontaminated without looking at the source code?

Technically you don't, just like any other software, but the risk is surely significantly lower since everyone including Microsoft is saying that what Microsoft is doing is taking that same code and then adding its contaminants on top.

VSC sends telemetry after first run, so there's no big sense to do it.

Also you can't block telemetry by Windows firewall.

P.S. Proud hoster of VSCodium Linux repo https://gitlab.com/paulcarroty/vscodium-deb-rpm-repo

That can be true for almost all software then?

Sure, but almost all software is not produced by a giant corporation with a well-established track record of pushing user-hostile changes via updates, including overriding or reverting the user's explicitly chosen privacy settings, and including taking such actions in the recent past.

Microsoft is not on your side when it comes to privacy and data security. It has made this abundantly clear both by its actions and by the statements of its senior leadership. However much anyone here might like VS Code, it is still a Microsoft product, while the alternative under discussion is not.

I'm genuinely surprised so many people seem to be leaping to the defence of VS Code here. Why? It's the same application, just made worse by Microsoft's telemetry (and the accompanying infamously opaque privacy policies). Unless you need one of the extensions that is tied specifically to the official Microsoft version, why wouldn't you go with the safer option?

I'm not defending MS just curious. Safer option is not convinent by any means. The fork linked is also open to malicious behaviour. The maintainer can sneak in any code, issues we seen similar to npm.

So if you feel this way about MS then you cant be on Windows. Apple have also been known to report users location secretley on iPhones. I'm on OSX and i dont entirely trust them either. Theres too many holes here, really have to patch them all if this is the stance we are taking.

Theres too many holes here, really have to patch them all if this is the stance we are taking.

I agree that the modern spyware infesting our operating systems is also a significant concern. I disagree that having more than one problem to deal with is a good argument for not trying to solve the one at hand.

Do you guys turn JS off completely while surfing the net because you don't like someone analyzing your uses? It's hard to imagine what your comfortable life would look like.

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