4 ms·

To be fair, Ubuntu does send usage data to Canonical, unlike some other distros. Whether or not that counts as "spying" to you is another question.

jaimex2 8y ago
I thought it asks you to opt-in when you install?
- testvox 8y ago
  It asks you if you want to opt-out the default is enabled.
- emptyfile 8y ago
  No, its opt out, default is yes.
  - jaimex2 8y ago
    Ah, lazy people like me dont even read... guess thats what theyre counting on.
addicted 8y ago
You can disable that very easily. And as far as I remember when I upgraded to Ubuntu 18.04 on my VM, it asked me whether I was ok with sending anonymous usage data (I believe the default choice was yes which is not ideal but was easy enough to turn off).
- type0 8y ago
  Even if you answer No, it will ping to their servers so that it can count users that did not want it. At least Canonical are honest about it and I'm sure you could at least prevent it with your firewall settings or maybe even by editing the hosts file.
- seabrookmx 8y ago
  This was my experience as well. That and the new "minimal install" option both jumped out at my when I set up my latest dev box.
swebs 8y ago
They only collect data of the installation process. Once installation is complete, no additional data is collected. They've even publicly released the results. >The collected data is not-personally-identifiable. Meaning that a user cannot be singled out or tracked based on the data he/she provided. Here’s what Ubuntu collects > Version and flavor of Ubuntu you’re installing > Whether you have network connectivity at install time > Hardware statistics such as CPU, RAM, GPU, etc > Device manufacturer > Country > Installation time > Whether you choose auto login, installing third-party codecs, downloading updates during install > Disk layout https://itsfoss.com/ubuntu-data-collection-stats/ https://itsfoss.com/ubuntu-data-collection-stats/
- shittyadmin 8y ago
  Do they not also run popularity-contest to collect installation data on packages like Debian did? Or did they get rid of that?
  - popey 8y ago
    No. We don't.
  - mrob 8y ago
    Debian's popularity contest is opt-in (not even installed unless you request it), and AFAIK has always been this way.

jaimex2 8y ago

I thought it asks you to opt-in when you install?

testvox 8y ago
It asks you if you want to opt-out the default is enabled.
emptyfile 8y ago
No, its opt out, default is yes.
- jaimex2 8y ago
  Ah, lazy people like me dont even read... guess thats what theyre counting on.

addicted 8y ago

You can disable that very easily. And as far as I remember when I upgraded to Ubuntu 18.04 on my VM, it asked me whether I was ok with sending anonymous usage data (I believe the default choice was yes which is not ideal but was easy enough to turn off).

type0 8y ago
Even if you answer No, it will ping to their servers so that it can count users that did not want it. At least Canonical are honest about it and I'm sure you could at least prevent it with your firewall settings or maybe even by editing the hosts file.
seabrookmx 8y ago
This was my experience as well. That and the new "minimal install" option both jumped out at my when I set up my latest dev box.

swebs 8y ago

They only collect data of the installation process. Once installation is complete, no additional data is collected. They've even publicly released the results. >The collected data is not-personally-identifiable. Meaning that a user cannot be singled out or tracked based on the data he/she provided. Here’s what Ubuntu collects > Version and flavor of Ubuntu you’re installing > Whether you have network connectivity at install time > Hardware statistics such as CPU, RAM, GPU, etc > Device manufacturer > Country > Installation time > Whether you choose auto login, installing third-party codecs, downloading updates during install > Disk layout https://itsfoss.com/ubuntu-data-collection-stats/ https://itsfoss.com/ubuntu-data-collection-stats/

shittyadmin 8y ago
Do they not also run popularity-contest to collect installation data on packages like Debian did? Or did they get rid of that?
- popey 8y ago
  No. We don't.
- mrob 8y ago
  Debian's popularity contest is opt-in (not even installed unless you request it), and AFAIK has always been this way.