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It's also obscure what really gets sent to Microsoft, and what not. There was a Linux based OS that warned the user at every single application trying to phone
by zvmaz 4y ago
It's also obscure what really gets sent to Microsoft, and what not. There was a Linux based OS that warned the user at every single application trying to phone the internet[1], even Gnome Calculator.
[1] https://subgraph.com/index.fr.html https://subgraph.com/index.fr.html
- sph 4y agoThere is no reference to GNOME calculator in that page. Given the extraordinary claim, please link better proof. I cannot imagine GNOME calc phoning home, unless you crashes and you have manually enabled debugging telemetry post-installation.
- zvmaz 4y ago> There is no reference to GNOME calculator in that page. It is at the bottom of the page I linked to, under "Application Firewall". There is even a screenshot.
- philposting 4y agoIt looks like it's getting currency exchange rates from the IMF, not phoning home.
- zvmaz 4y agoNote that in the example shown in the website, Gnome Calculator is not phoning home, but imf.org; probably a benign thing; it just showed how much control one can have over one's computing.
- pseudalopex 4y agoThe claim was not extraordinary. Many calculator apps have currency conversion.
- sph 4y agoFetching currency data is not phoning home. And how is currency conversion supposed to work without contacting an external service? Let's not dilute the original meaning. Phoning home means sending telemetry and other usage data to its creator and associated third parties, and this data exchange is not at all necessary for the program to do its job.
- Karunamon 4y agoCommunicating with the Internet without express prior consent, with as much emphasis as I can convey in the limited formatting options provided by this site, ABSOLUTELY IS PHONING HOME. Any other assumption is unsafe and a privacy hole large enough to deliver freight. If the calculator wants to pull exchange rate information, all it needs to do is ask. Anything else should be presumed as shady in the current environment.