> we need at least some data about how Manjaro is being used by so many people around the world in order to show that the project has a future and also to plan for that future.
Charitably, this implies they want to plan around things like infrastructure scaling. Why can't they just look at present demands on their infrastructure? (i.e. why bother with a proxy metric when you have the real metrics right there?)
Just to add a different interepretation: To me this does not imply planning on infrastructure at all.
I'm guessing it's more likely they are looking for investments and need to show some credible numbers.
No, you don't. It is my computer, not yours.
FWIW, I think it should be opt-in by default, but I think it's reasonable (aside from adhering to necessary privacy laws) for a project to choose the policy they want.
Arguably, the point of open source software (or at least GPL licensed software) is that the owner of the hardware gets to "own" the software and can do what they like with it.
Said no successful project ever.