Fedora, for example, already does this with UUIDs and the smolt project. A UUID is generated on installation and used for the 'ping'. The user opts-in at firs

Fedora, for example, already does this with UUIDs and the smolt project. A UUID is generated on installation and used for the 'ping'. The user opts-in at first boot, and the software runs periodically: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smolt_(Linux) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smolt_(Linux) The data is aggregated for reporting: http://www.smolts.org/ http://www.smolts.org/