News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Windows package manager does not permit opting out of tel... by CJefferson on Thursday May 21, 2020 @11:50AM (#23259914)
I think you are underestimating the hardness of tracking the many users of Windows, and different bugs they might have.

Microsoft have a team of people who look at crash reports, and categorise the results (see for example https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20050412-47/?p=35... , just a quick thing I found).

Having the ability to track the crashes of millions of machines, to find patterns in which drivers are crashing which applications, seems like an impossible thing to replace.

Re:Windows package manager does not permit opting out of tel... by m0xte on Thursday May 21, 2020 @11:57AM (#23260019)
I don't have a problem with this. If asked I will submit a crash dump. If it shows me what is being sent. That's common courtesy. Opt-in information is absolutely fine.

Being unable to opt out and the default being opt-in is what is unacceptable.

Re:Windows package manager does not permit opting out of tel... by tomc1985 on Thursday May 21, 2020 @12:26PM (#23260522)
Yes but those crash reports used to have a send/don't send button
Re:Windows package manager does not permit opting out of tel... by kevingadd on Thursday May 21, 2020 @01:42PM (#23261837)
The average user has no idea what those buttons do and will click whatever makes the popup go away, which will be either 'yes' or 'no' at random
Re:Windows package manager does not permit opting out of tel... by SiNiquity on Thursday May 21, 2020 @02:18PM (#23262547)
It's like a consent form for a medical procedure. At the end of the day, you're not a medical professional. Is the average person really informed when they do or don't provide their consent?

Nevertheless, consent is still paramount. Removing consent on the basis that most users are incapable of being informed is a poor excuse.

Re:Windows package manager does not permit opting out of tel... by eitland on Thursday May 21, 2020 @02:35PM (#23262851)
Also, as someone who's been doing tech support since 1995, people here either wastly overestimate the dumbness of others or they just happen to have unusually dumb colleagues, friends and whatnot.

Most people aren't really stupid, rather bad software make them look stupid and bad tech support shifts the blame to the users.