[TriLUG] Ubuntu: whats all the fuss?

[Brian Daniels]

On Fri, Oct 20, 2006 at 10:26:49AM -0400, Tanner Lovelace wrote:
> On 10/20/06, Brian Daniels <bitmage at bellsouth.net> wrote:
> >
> >What's the tracking issue about?
> 
> It's apparently quite long and involved, but Linux Weekly News has the
> full story:
> 
> http://lwn.net/Articles/203694/

Thanks for the pointer.  Condensed version: The Fedora project wanted a better 
idea of how many installs of Fedora are out there, and floated the idea of 
putting a visible 'web bug' on the default web page installed with the web 
browser.  This would let them get a very rough idea of usage from ip addresses 
in their web logs.

A vocal group objected to this with much heat about being 'spied upon'.  
Fedora has withdrawn the request.  It seems a minor concern to me - if you get 
updates then Fedora can track your ip, but it really brought out the tinfoil hat 
crowd.

More worrisome to me was a post by Greg DeKoenigsberg at RedHat:
http://article.gmane.org/gmane.linux.redhat.fedora.advisory-board/885
that seemed to suggest some jeopardy for Fedora's funding within Redhat.  He 
later backpedaled from this, but that initial email is pretty strongly worded.

I'm going to stay with FC5 until FC6 has shook out a bit (pre had some serious 
install issues for me), but I don't see any privacy concerns with Fedora.

--Brian

-- 
Be it thy course to busy giddy minds
With foreign quarrels; that action, hence borne out,
May waste the memory of the former days.
			Henry IV, Part 2
	

Brian Daniels                  bitmage at bellsouth.net
      http://www.eviloverlord.net