4 ms·

Linux can be chatty, but I'd recommend installing OpenSnitch to get a handle on the few phone-home calls from programs like snapd (if you choose to not neuter i

Linux can be chatty, but I'd recommend installing OpenSnitch to get a handle on the few phone-home calls from programs like snapd (if you choose to not neuter it, immediately) and distro-specific upsells like "ubuntu-advantage". The biggest pay-off for OpenSnitch is if you're going to be installing and using third-party programs like VSCode and Unity, who love to talk to analytics providers.

zibzab 5y ago
vscode lets you turn off analytics in the settings (IMO it should be off by default, untill a crash is detected). Isn't that enough?
- Brian_K_White 5y ago
  Of course not?
  - can16358p 5y ago
    Why? (Assumimg Vscode respects the setting)
    - denysvitali 5y ago
      Because then VSCodium wouldn't exist
    - Brian_K_White 5y ago
      I don't even understand the question. If you found that your next door neighbor was sneaking into your house while you're away, and he said "oh I have an option not to do that. Just ask me not to any more." Would that be good enough? You say "ok I would like to invoke that option" and that's it, you happily go away on a month long vacation without installing any cameras or anything because they guy said he won't do that now. That's a single package, whose setting affects no other apps, and you have to trust that the app even really does what it says, which makes no sense when the topic is apps that may be doing unwanted things behind your back.
      - morganvachon 5y ago
        I agree with your position but that's a bad analogy (as most analogies are). With your computer you can choose to uninstall and no longer use VSCode. You can't choose your neighbor and you can't force him to move away to prevent his bad actions. Also, it would be more like your neighbor is peeping in your windows or planting a monitoring bug to record your activities, rather than breaking in. Taking that further, you can ditch your Mac and switch to Linux or BSD if you're concerned about the article subject. In other words, you can sell your house and move if you don't like the direction the neighborhood is going with all the peeping toms about, but there's extra work involved in that solution so you have to decide if you can afford such a change for more privacy. So, you can sell your Mac and move your workflow to a less invasive OS on hardware you choose, but depending on how deep your workflow is intertwined with and relies upon the macOS ecosystem, that can be a ton of work as well.
        Brian_K_White 5y ago
        That analogy is like a car that...
dx034 5y ago
Can't that be filtered on a dns level with a list in pihole? Probably much nicer not having to keep it on all devices.
- exikyut 5y ago
  I agree, but have serious "ugh, but what about when I leave my network"-itis. Like when I tether off my phone (or just use said phone when out). The ideal solution seems to be to VPN off my home internet connection, but that just feels so broken...
  - poidos 5y ago
    I used WireHole [0] to set up pihole over wireguard for use outside my home. It works really well. I've thankfully only lost VPN access a handful of times since installing it because our internet is relatively stable. [0]: https://github.com/IAmStoxe/wirehole https://github.com/IAmStoxe/wirehole

zibzab 5y ago

vscode lets you turn off analytics in the settings (IMO it should be off by default, untill a crash is detected). Isn't that enough?

Brian_K_White 5y ago
Of course not?
- can16358p 5y ago
  Why? (Assumimg Vscode respects the setting)
  - denysvitali 5y ago
    Because then VSCodium wouldn't exist
  - Brian_K_White 5y ago
    I don't even understand the question. If you found that your next door neighbor was sneaking into your house while you're away, and he said "oh I have an option not to do that. Just ask me not to any more." Would that be good enough? You say "ok I would like to invoke that option" and that's it, you happily go away on a month long vacation without installing any cameras or anything because they guy said he won't do that now. That's a single package, whose setting affects no other apps, and you have to trust that the app even really does what it says, which makes no sense when the topic is apps that may be doing unwanted things behind your back.
    - morganvachon 5y ago
      I agree with your position but that's a bad analogy (as most analogies are). With your computer you can choose to uninstall and no longer use VSCode. You can't choose your neighbor and you can't force him to move away to prevent his bad actions. Also, it would be more like your neighbor is peeping in your windows or planting a monitoring bug to record your activities, rather than breaking in. Taking that further, you can ditch your Mac and switch to Linux or BSD if you're concerned about the article subject. In other words, you can sell your house and move if you don't like the direction the neighborhood is going with all the peeping toms about, but there's extra work involved in that solution so you have to decide if you can afford such a change for more privacy. So, you can sell your Mac and move your workflow to a less invasive OS on hardware you choose, but depending on how deep your workflow is intertwined with and relies upon the macOS ecosystem, that can be a ton of work as well.
      - Brian_K_White 5y ago
        That analogy is like a car that...

dx034 5y ago

Can't that be filtered on a dns level with a list in pihole? Probably much nicer not having to keep it on all devices.

exikyut 5y ago
I agree, but have serious "ugh, but what about when I leave my network"-itis. Like when I tether off my phone (or just use said phone when out). The ideal solution seems to be to VPN off my home internet connection, but that just feels so broken...
- poidos 5y ago
  I used WireHole [0] to set up pihole over wireguard for use outside my home. It works really well. I've thankfully only lost VPN access a handful of times since installing it because our internet is relatively stable. [0]: https://github.com/IAmStoxe/wirehole https://github.com/IAmStoxe/wirehole