this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2023
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Yeah I’d like a source too because what they said makes no sense. The immature way they responded to criticism of someone they hired is a good reason to be turned off of the pi, no need to actually make up something ridiculous.
I think they're referring to that one time they installed a Microsoft repo on Raspbian without permission.
Thanks, that makes more sense. According to an article on ars it doesn’t actually install anything so I don’t see their problem. All they have to do is comment out the line or just use a different distribution.
It was removed a month later anyway. Now VSCode can be installed through the main repo.
OK they apparently did, but apparently they did it silently, at least I never noticed, maybe because I switched to Debian?
I actually thought it was still there!
https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=306597
But you are right they did it after about a month. If only they had owned up to it. Or at least announced it more clearly.
I think the main problem is just screwing with the system like that without permission. I mean, I know I was pretty pissed off when I found a Microsoft repo in my sources one day. It's not like it was a standard update or anything.
I love the "overly paranoid" label, when you're talking about a repo than can alter "real system packages".
In what world is this OK?
That’s not the same as their claim that Microsoft software was pre installed and has access to your system which is what I’m arguing was incorrect.
https://forums.raspberrypi.com/viewtopic.php?t=303549
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/raspberry-pi-os-added-a-microsoft-repo-no-its-not-an-evil-secret/
Explain how adding a Microsoft repo that doesn’t actually install anything is the same as giving Microsoft access to your device?
OK if i must...
The raspberry pi came preinstalled with a Microsoft developer tool, which resided in a Microsoft controlled repo.
Now Microsoft has root access to your system, whenever you make any kind of upgrade, and can change dependencies for that tool to anything in their repo. Basically granting a third party control over your raspberry pi.
The worst is that it's very difficult to prevent, you may look up guides to prevent Microsoft repo, and even these solutions have shortcomings.
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/02/raspberry-pi-os-added-a-microsoft-repo-no-its-not-an-evil-secret/
On top of that, this enabled telemetry which is borderline illegal in EU.
It also means you ping Microsoft with every use of your package manager, granting Microsoft very useful information on a competing OS, plus giving them information you may not wish to give them.
You may consider all these issues as non issues, but I do not.
Edit:
It did not come preinstalled.
It didn’t come pre installed with the tool. It only had the repo. Did you even read your own link?
Corrected.