02-09-2021, 06:41 PM
Here's what I think:
Most people who are into Open Source ideas want to have the choice to use or not use products and services from Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Such people very much do not like such products and services being installed without specific consent.
Yeah, this is probably just paranoia: The way this was done makes me think that someone at Raspberry Pi Foundation was bribed. Why? Because this is just the kind of nefarious thing that we try to avoid, which is why we use things like BSD or GNU/Linux. Even if most people buying Raspberry Pi aren't buying them for these reasons, it's common sense to do things in Linux that align with people who use Linux. You wouldn't add a Denso stereo to someone's Ford without telling them, just because more people like Toyota. In fact, let's assume that the reason they automatically added this repository was because it is something that they expect their users really want: Why not advertise it? This is why it just doesn't seem to be on the up-and-up. Frankly, such paranoia isn't unwarranted, nor is it unhealthy.
One of the reasons I use Raspberry Pi (and Pine64) products, and AmigaOS, NetBSD, and GNU/Linux, is specifically because I don't want Microsoft anything in any way. (Except of course Bars&Pipes. But what am I supposed to do about that? And it doesn't report to Microsoft when it's running.) I suspect I'm not the only one.
Most people who are into Open Source ideas want to have the choice to use or not use products and services from Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Such people very much do not like such products and services being installed without specific consent.
Yeah, this is probably just paranoia: The way this was done makes me think that someone at Raspberry Pi Foundation was bribed. Why? Because this is just the kind of nefarious thing that we try to avoid, which is why we use things like BSD or GNU/Linux. Even if most people buying Raspberry Pi aren't buying them for these reasons, it's common sense to do things in Linux that align with people who use Linux. You wouldn't add a Denso stereo to someone's Ford without telling them, just because more people like Toyota. In fact, let's assume that the reason they automatically added this repository was because it is something that they expect their users really want: Why not advertise it? This is why it just doesn't seem to be on the up-and-up. Frankly, such paranoia isn't unwarranted, nor is it unhealthy.
One of the reasons I use Raspberry Pi (and Pine64) products, and AmigaOS, NetBSD, and GNU/Linux, is specifically because I don't want Microsoft anything in any way. (Except of course Bars&Pipes. But what am I supposed to do about that? And it doesn't report to Microsoft when it's running.) I suspect I'm not the only one.