Why, if they can send the video card info, why can't they send your hard drive size, or OS version. And then maybe your registry, your/etc/passwd file, or maybe just/var/spool/mail. If you read, it *does* send you OS version. It really isn't an invasion of privacy, imho, if it doesn't have a name attached to it. It can't *possibly* do you *ANY* harm at all, and so it doesn't matter. Most other invasion of privacy complaints are different. Microsoft embedded info. in office documents that could allow you to find the computer that they were created on. Intel embedded a serial number in processors that was supposed to make e-commerce easier but also allowed a lot of info. to be divulged about you according to the serial # on your processor (which, by the way, could easily change hands).
all that id has done is sent:
quake version video card os libs (i.e. MesaGL) date
This allows them to determine that on (date) someone running (os) with (video card) and (libs) ran (quake version).
Sure, a line needs to be drawn - but the line should be whether or not the info. can be traced to you, or can harm you in any way. This info will help them in creating future versions.
Btw - I think the comment by the guy who put this up is somewhat ignorant, he said that Carmack's comment didn't make sense because it isn't transmitting an e-mail address and so you can't connect support requests with who is using what. What Carmack said is that it allowed them to compare their userbase to their support requests.. i.e. they had about equal users of nvidia and 3dfx, but about twice as many support requests from 3dfx users, indicating that 3dfx users have more problems - this could help them in getting help from 3dfx, etc..
If a piece of software i start up says "Hey, for marketing reasons, we'd like to send us the make and model of your video card" I would gladly press OK. then you would bitch at them for annoying you with such a message. This would also make the results less accurate because certain types of users (i.e. linux users) might answer no more than others. It isn't attaching a name, an address, or anything - it's simply telling them the % of their users use a certain OS, video card, etc.. chill out man..
There are some gray areas though. I remember a contract I had to sign a few months back before I turned 18 - a Lawyer told me that my parents could not co-sign it because the contract was obligating me to work, and for my parents to sign it would be somewhat equivalent to slavery. In essence, noone can sign an agreement that requires *you* to do something. I never figured out if the contract would have held water if I had signed it b/c I waited until I turned 18. I do remember discussing something similar not long ago and I was told that often times a minor can sign an agreement and, if they fulfill their terms, they can require the other party to fulfill theirs - but the minor cannot be forced to fulfill theirs.
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Or possibly hired a marketing person to handle their website and press release(s), etc.. and he only knows how to use windows.
Why, if they can send the video card info, why can't they send your hard drive size, or OS version. And then maybe your registry, your /etc/passwd file, or maybe just /var/spool/mail.
If you read, it *does* send you OS version. It really isn't an invasion of privacy, imho, if it doesn't have a name attached to it. It can't *possibly* do you *ANY* harm at all, and so it doesn't matter. Most other invasion of privacy complaints are different. Microsoft embedded info. in office documents that could allow you to find the computer that they were created on. Intel embedded a serial number in processors that was supposed to make e-commerce easier but also allowed a lot of info. to be divulged about you according to the serial # on your processor (which, by the way, could easily change hands).
all that id has done is sent:
quake version
video card
os
libs (i.e. MesaGL)
date
This allows them to determine that on (date) someone running (os) with (video card) and (libs) ran (quake version).
Sure, a line needs to be drawn - but the line should be whether or not the info. can be traced to you, or can harm you in any way. This info will help them in creating future versions.
Btw - I think the comment by the guy who put this up is somewhat ignorant, he said that Carmack's comment didn't make sense because it isn't transmitting an e-mail address and so you can't connect support requests with who is using what. What Carmack said is that it allowed them to compare their userbase to their support requests.. i.e. they had about equal users of nvidia and 3dfx, but about twice as many support requests from 3dfx users, indicating that 3dfx users have more problems - this could help them in getting help from 3dfx, etc..
If a piece of software i start up says "Hey, for marketing reasons, we'd like to send us the make and model of your video card" I would gladly press OK. then you would bitch at them for annoying you with such a message. This would also make the results less accurate because certain types of users (i.e. linux users) might answer no more than others. It isn't attaching a name, an address, or anything - it's simply telling them the % of their users use a certain OS, video card, etc.. chill out man..
There are some gray areas though. I remember a contract I had to sign a few months back before I turned 18 - a Lawyer told me that my parents could not co-sign it because the contract was obligating me to work, and for my parents to sign it would be somewhat equivalent to slavery. In essence, noone can sign an agreement that requires *you* to do something. I never figured out if the contract would have held water if I had signed it b/c I waited until I turned 18. I do remember discussing something similar not long ago and I was told that often times a minor can sign an agreement and, if they fulfill their terms, they can require the other party to fulfill theirs - but the minor cannot be forced to fulfill theirs.