There are multiple decisions: opt-in vs. opt-out, GitLab.com vs. self-hosted, DNT vs. in-app, first-party vs. third-party, aggregated data vs. user data.
As an example that we won't do opt-out self-hosted third party with user data doesn't mean we can't do opt-in GitLab.com first party with aggregated data.
Almost every SaaS company uses telemetry in some form to improve their product. We need it too to improve the the user experience of the product.
But we clearly made the wrong trade-offs so we'll go back to square one and make a new plan.
That makes sense, but from a communication point of view it doesn't connect with what people are feeling. The community has a strong emotional bond with you. You need to respond on that level so people feel like they've been heard. You don't need to make all those decisions first in order to do that. Maybe you should do an Ask HN about how to proceed with these options. At least announce that you fucked up, apologize, and say that however you go forward will be crafted together with the community.
As far as I'm concerned, there's only one decision and it's clear that you've already made it. Client-side telemetry is a hard no-go for me. Not that my opinion matters much. I've deleted my account and will be reversing my attempts to secure funding for my organization to move to Gitlab. This is a bridge that can't be un-burned as far as I'm concerned.
> We need it too to improve the the user experience of the product.
I really appreciate you guys engaging in this public discussion. I hope you take what follows in the friendly spirit I intend:
> We need it too to improve the the user experience of the product.
This ^^^^ sounds like exaggeration to me. Taken literally, you're saying that the gitlab user experience could not be meaningfully improved without adding telemetry.
I'm not a UI designer, but I'm fairly sure that before telemetry existed, product-improving iterations were a thing.
But based on other people's comments, I think this is a tangent. I suspect that 99% of people's upset is making the telemetry something other than opt-in. I suspect that if gitlab would just commit to making telemetry opt-in and GDPR-compliant, all would be right with the world.
As an example that we won't do opt-out self-hosted third party with user data doesn't mean we can't do opt-in GitLab.com first party with aggregated data.
Almost every SaaS company uses telemetry in some form to improve their product. We need it too to improve the the user experience of the product.
But we clearly made the wrong trade-offs so we'll go back to square one and make a new plan.