Proposal to Collect Anonymous System Data Sparks Debate in Fedora Community
The Fedora developers team, known for their widely-used Linux distribution, has put forward a new idea that has caused a stir within the community. They aim to introduce a feature into Fedora Workstation that would collect anonymous data on system usage.
The proposed feature, called Display Systems Metrics, will operate through Gnome Usage, an application for monitoring computer resources. Its purpose will be to transmit statistics to the Red Hat server regarding the screen resolutions, update frequencies, and types utilized by Fedora Workstation users. This data will enable developers to enhance support for a variety of displays and video cards.
The team of developers has emphasized that participation in the data collection will be entirely voluntary and anonymous. Users will have the freedom to disable this function at any time through the system settings. Furthermore, they will have access to view what data is being sent and the purpose behind its collection. The team has also assured that no personal information, such as IP addresses, device identifiers, or details about other applications, will be collected.
However, not all members of the Linux community are in favor of this proposal. Some argue that it infringes upon user privacy and contradicts the principles of free software. Concerns have also been raised that Red Hat, as a large company involved in the development and support of Linux and other related products, may exploit this data for commercial purposes or share it with third parties. In 2018, Red Hat was acquired by IBM Corporation for a staggering $34 billion.