4 ms·

Worth noting that extensions may separately send telemetry, that do not have to adhere to the main VSCode telemetry configuration settings.

gabrielgio 4y ago
What a gross oversight from their part. Not only they build a product that, as pointed by the post, sends a excessive amount of data, but also allows anyone to do the same. > Why have licenses like these if they are just concerned with product improvement? That nails it for me. I have no reason whatsoever to use vscode.
- kroltan 4y ago
  What's the alternative? Blocking extensions from accessing the Internet? How are you even supposed to do that given extensions already have (completely justified) access to the filesystem and can invoke executables? There certainly is a valid argument for Internet access, for example for documentation lookup, schema validation, database editing, etc. There would be a strict, and yet fallible, vetting process on the extension marketplace to make sure every extension complies with whatever rules are defined.
  - gabrielgio 4y ago
    You have a point. There is no way to block access to resources given the nature of the product, but they could, at least, make more effort to create a better community/environment around the tooling (regarding data handling). > extensions may separately send telemetry, that do not have to adhere to the main VSCode telemetry configuration settings. From what I see things that should never happen and should yield a block from the marketplace. Like you mention, in the end of the day that is not enforceable, but more transparent data privacy policy would show some good faith from their side.
  - yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
    > What's the alternative? Expose the setting to extensions (if it isn't already), and set a policy in their extension catalog that extension telemetry must honor the global setting. It isn't perfect, but it's better than nothing.
- xeromal 4y ago
  Sounds like install rogue extensions is on the user. lol
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- welder 4y ago
  That's kinda the point! For ex, my wakatime extension sends metrics about vscode usage so the developer can see their code stats.
  - gabrielgio 4y ago
    That is fine from my point of view. You, vscode and the extension have an agreement of how the data is handled, where is sent to and how it is processed. It becomes a problem when the vscode or an extension ignores the no telemetry settings, keeps sending data, and we have no much of a clue how it is going to be store/processed/used for.
    - welder 4y ago
      vscode extensions are open source so the community should report and vscode should ban extensions behaving badly. That's the same way all plugin marketplaces work, nothing bad vscode is doing with their extension setup.
      - capableweb 4y ago
        It's probably true that many Visual Studio Code extensions are Open Source, but there are plenty that are not. Here is one from a random person on the internet which has the license "All rights reserved": https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=LiamNeville.emoji-icon-fun-theme https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=LiamNevi... Here is another by Adobe that doesn't have a license linked to it (presumed proprietary): https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=com-adobe-coldfusion.adobe-cfml-lsp https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=com-adob...
        welder 4y ago
        Sorry, I meant you could see the source code not the source code's license.
        capableweb 4y ago

gabrielgio 4y ago

What a gross oversight from their part. Not only they build a product that, as pointed by the post, sends a excessive amount of data, but also allows anyone to do the same. > Why have licenses like these if they are just concerned with product improvement? That nails it for me. I have no reason whatsoever to use vscode.

kroltan 4y ago
What's the alternative? Blocking extensions from accessing the Internet? How are you even supposed to do that given extensions already have (completely justified) access to the filesystem and can invoke executables? There certainly is a valid argument for Internet access, for example for documentation lookup, schema validation, database editing, etc. There would be a strict, and yet fallible, vetting process on the extension marketplace to make sure every extension complies with whatever rules are defined.
- gabrielgio 4y ago
  You have a point. There is no way to block access to resources given the nature of the product, but they could, at least, make more effort to create a better community/environment around the tooling (regarding data handling). > extensions may separately send telemetry, that do not have to adhere to the main VSCode telemetry configuration settings. From what I see things that should never happen and should yield a block from the marketplace. Like you mention, in the end of the day that is not enforceable, but more transparent data privacy policy would show some good faith from their side.
- yjftsjthsd-h 4y ago
  > What's the alternative? Expose the setting to extensions (if it isn't already), and set a policy in their extension catalog that extension telemetry must honor the global setting. It isn't perfect, but it's better than nothing.
xeromal 4y ago
Sounds like install rogue extensions is on the user. lol
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
welder 4y ago
That's kinda the point! For ex, my wakatime extension sends metrics about vscode usage so the developer can see their code stats.
- gabrielgio 4y ago
  That is fine from my point of view. You, vscode and the extension have an agreement of how the data is handled, where is sent to and how it is processed. It becomes a problem when the vscode or an extension ignores the no telemetry settings, keeps sending data, and we have no much of a clue how it is going to be store/processed/used for.
  - welder 4y ago
    vscode extensions are open source so the community should report and vscode should ban extensions behaving badly. That's the same way all plugin marketplaces work, nothing bad vscode is doing with their extension setup.
    - capableweb 4y ago
      It's probably true that many Visual Studio Code extensions are Open Source, but there are plenty that are not. Here is one from a random person on the internet which has the license "All rights reserved": https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=LiamNeville.emoji-icon-fun-theme https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=LiamNevi... Here is another by Adobe that doesn't have a license linked to it (presumed proprietary): https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=com-adobe-coldfusion.adobe-cfml-lsp https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=com-adob...
      - welder 4y ago
        Sorry, I meant you could see the source code not the source code's license.
        capableweb 4y ago