Re: [RFC PATCH v1] telemetry design overview (part 1)

[Johannes Schindelin <Johannes.Schindelin@gmx.de>]

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Hi Hannes,

On Sat, 9 Jun 2018, Johannes Sixt wrote:

> Am 09.06.2018 um 00:20 schrieb Ævar Arnfjörð Bjarmason:
> > 
> > On Fri, Jun 08 2018, Johannes Sixt wrote:
> > 
> > > Am 08.06.2018 um 18:00 schrieb Thomas Braun:
> > > > I for my part would much rather prefer that to be a compile time
> > > > option so that I don't need to check on every git update on windows
> > > > if  this is now enabled or not.
> > >
> > > This exactly my concern, too! A compile-time option may make it a good
> > > deal less worrisome.
> > 
> > Can you elaborate on how someone who can maintain inject malicious code
> > into your git package + config would be thwarted by this being some
> > compile-time option, wouldn't they just compile it in?
> 
> Of course they can. But would we, the Git community do that?
> 
> From the design document:
> 
> > The goal of the telemetry feature is to be able to gather usage data
> > across a group of production users to identify real-world performance
> > problems in production.  Additionally, it might help identify common
> > user errors and guide future user training.
> 
> The goal to gather usage data may be valid for a small subset of Git
> installations. But it is wrong to put this into the software itself, in
> particular when the implementations includes scary things like loading
> unspecified dynamic libraries:
> 
> > If the config setting "telemetry.plugin" contains the pathname to a
> > shared library, the library will be dynamically loaded during start up
> > and events will be sent to it using the plugin API.
> 
> When you want usage data, ask your users for feedback. Look over their
> shoulders. But do not ask the software itself to gather usage data. It will be
> abused.
> 
> Do not offer open source software that has a "call-home" method built-in.
> 
> If you want to peek into the workplaces of YOUR users, then monkey-patch
> survaillance into YOUR version of Git. But please do not burden the rest of
> us.

We already offer hooks. You can do anything with those hooks. Even, if you
do not pay close attention, to transfer all your bitcoin to a specific
account.

I agree with Peff: this is something you as a user need to be aware of,
and need to make sure you configure your Git just like you want. As long
as this is a purely opt-in feature, it is useful and helpful.

We do need it in-house, for the many thousands of Git users we try to
support with a relatively small team of Git developers.

Ciao,
Dscho