Re: Should the default value of url-user-agent include a version number? What about the specific case of package.el?

[Stefan Monnier]

>>>> I never liked it, but admittedly, I never complained about it.
>>> May I ask why you do not like this behaviour? What stands against it?
>> That's just a leak of private information.
> I must admit that I find it hard to agree.  I do not see how the OS,
> or the Emacs version, or  the combination of both could be used to
> identify you as a person.

Your medical records are considered private information, not because
they would allow someone to identify you, but because they say things
about you which not everyone should know.

> And even if it could, doesn't it pale beside the information that is
> necessarily send to the archive (e.g. your IP, a partial list of the
> packages you're using, etc.)?

AFAIK we don't send a partial list of the packages we're using.

> I think that our desire as package maintainers to learn how and where
> their packages are used is legitimate.

Of course.  But being legitimate doesn't trump other concerns.  It has
to be weighed against the consequences.


        Stefan