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<body class='hmmessage'><div dir='ltr'>So far, the discussion has amused me, but now I must interlope.<br><br>> From: P.Taylor@Rhul.Ac.Uk<br><div><br>> > Joachim, don't worry. Norbert already made clear that he will not<br>> > add such a "feature".<br>> <br>> In which case we may safely conclude that the TeX Live project<br>> is a dictatorship rather than a collaborative effort, Reinhard.<br><br>Since when did it become acceptable to<br>a.) introduce phone-home mechanisms into open-source software, and<br>b.) defame the personal decision of a software maintainer against this<br> as dictatorship, and<br>c.) accept surveillance and erode privacy (how many TeX-users will be<br> aware of that new "feature" and know how to turn it off?) under the<br> premise that surveillance is in place everywhere else (e.g. the phone<br> example)?<br><br>Has it come to this that we must accept user tracking (and what was<br>suggested is nothing less than this) just because?<br><br>> When they accept that user suggestions are of as little interest to the<br>> developers of TeX Live<br><br>If any user has interest in the used software tracking his/her habits: There<br>are plenty of OSes/Software packages out there that do that.<br><br>And if this is really of interest for TeX users, one is free to macgyver a daemon<br>that tracks whenever TeX binaries are fired up, or include a small post-install<br>script in a custom rpm that phones home after installation. No need to infest<br>TeX main line with that.<br><br>The whole idea of phoning home goes against half a dozen principles<br>of open-source software. There are certain things you will never see in<br>good (!) open-source software. Phoning home is one of them.<br><br>> as they appear to be to the developers<br>> of Seamonkey.<br><br>Naming and shaming does no-one any good.<br><br>- Winston<br><br></div> </div></body>
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