Five days ago at the time of writing, [[https://github.com/crsib][Dmitry Vedenko]] opened a Pull
Request (PR) in [[https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835][Audacity's GitHub repository]] entitled [[https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835][/Basic telemetry
for the Audacity/.]] About two days later, all hell broke loose. That PR
now has over 3.3 thousand downvotes and more than one thousand comments
from nearly 400 individuals. I started reading the posts shortly after
they began and kept up with them over the following days, reading every
single new post. I recognise that few people are going to feel like
wading through over 1k comments so this is my attempt to provide a
summary of the PR itself using the community's code reviews along with a
summary of the various opinions conveyed in the comments.
When I reference comments, I'll provide a footnote that includes a link
to the comment and a link to a screenshot just in case it's removed or
edited in the future.
*** Audacity's acquisition
I haven't been able to find /much/ information in this area so forgive me
if I'm scant on details.
On 30 April, a company called [[https://mu.se/][Muse Group]] acquired [[https://www.audacityteam.org/][Audacity]]. According to
[[https://mu.se][their website]], Muse is the parent company behind many musical
applications and tools. It was founded by Eugeny Naidenov just days
before it acquired Audacity. Before all of this, Eugeny Naidenov founded
[[https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/][Ultimate Guitar]] (UG) in 1998. The service grew rather quickly and now
has over 300 million users. UG acquired [[https://deanzelinsky.com/][Dean Zelinsky Guitars]] in 2012,
[[http://agilepartners.com/][Agile Partners]] in 2013, [[https://musescore.org/][MuseScore]] in 2017, and [[http://trycrescendo.com/][Crescendo]] in 2018. Muse
Group was established in 2021 and it seems as if all of the services UG
acquired were (or will be) transferred to Muse Group, as well as UG
itself. Immediately following its establishment, Muse not only acquired
Audacity but also [[https://www.staffpad.net/][StaffPad]].
I say 30 April because that's when Muse published their [[https://mu.se/newsroom/tpost/6dhedma301-muse-group-acquires-audacity-expanding-c][press release]]
and when Martin Keary (Tantacrul) published a video entitled [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMWNvwLiXIQ][/I’m now in
charge of Audacity. Seriously./]] According to his comment,[fn:17] Martin
will help with proposing Audacity's roadmap and many of its future
features as well as working with the community. This has been his role
with MuseScore since he joined that project and he will be continuing it
here.
~-----BEGIN PERSONAL OPINION-----~
Looking at [[https://www.martinkeary.com/][his website,]] I also suspect he will play a large role in
redesigning Audacity's interface. Considering that he was instrumental
in designing [[https://www.martinkeary.com/#/ubuntu-touch-os/][the best mobile interface I've ever had the absolute
pleasure of experiencing,]] I have high hopes that this is the case.
~------END PERSONAL OPINION------~
*** Telemetry implementation
**** Implementation Basics
A few days after the acquisition, a PR was opened that adds /Basic
telemetry for the Audacity/. This implementation collects "application
opened" events and sends those to Yandex to estimate the number of
Audacity users. It also collects session start and end events, errors
for debugging, file used for import and export, OS and Audacity
versions, and the use of effects, generators, and analysis tools so they
can prioritise future improvements. Sending this data would be optional
and the user would be presented with a dialogue the first time they
launch the application after installation or after they update to the
including release. This description was mostly copied directly from [[https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835#issue-629891447][the
PR description itself.]]
**** Frontend Implementation
This is fairly straightforward and a pretty standard UI for prompting
users to consent to analytics and crash logging. This section is
included because the community has strong opinions regarding the
language used and its design, but that will be discussed later. The
screenshot below is copied directly from the PR.
[[/assets/pngs/audacity-pr/consentdialogue.png]]
**** Backend Implementation
Many of the code reviews include the reviewer's personal opinion so I
will summarise the comment, provide the code block in question, and link
directly to the comment in a footnote.[fn:9]
#+BEGIN_SRC c
if (!inputFile.Write (wxString::FromUTF8 (ClientID + "\n")))
return false;
#+END_SRC
[[https://github.com/crsib/audacity/blob/c9264d2478fe2af82aeb6e2a0295b00b3a27ce53/libraries/lib-telemetry/TelemetryManager.cpp#L199-L200][Lines 199-200 of TelemetryManager.cpp]] save the user's unique client ID
to a file.[fn:8] This allows the analytics tool (in this case, Google
Analytics) to aggregate data produced by a single user.
#+BEGIN_SRC c
def_vars()
set( CURL_DIR "${_INTDIR}/libcurl" )
set( CURL_TAG "curl-7_76_0")
#+END_SRC
[[https://github.com/crsib/audacity/blob/c9264d2478fe2af82aeb6e2a0295b00b3a27ce53/cmake-proxies/libcurl/CMakeLists.txt#L3-L6][Lines 3-6 of CMakeLists.txt]] "vendor in" libcurl.[fn:10] This is when an
application directly includes sources for a utility rather than making
use utilities provided by the system itself.
#+BEGIN_SRC c
ExternalProject_Add(curl
PREFIX "${CURL_DIR}"
INSTALL_DIR "${CURL_DIR}"
GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/curl/curl
GIT_TAG ${CURL_TAG}
GIT_SHALLOW Yes
CMAKE_CACHE_ARGS ${CURL_CMAKE_ARGS}
)
#+END_SRC
[[https://github.com/crsib/audacity/blob/c9264d2478fe2af82aeb6e2a0295b00b3a27ce53/cmake-proxies/libcurl/CMakeLists.txt#L29-L36][Lines 29-36 of CMakeLists.txt]] add curl as a remote dependency.[fn:11]
This means that the machine building Audacity from its source code has
[[https://github.com/crsib/audacity/blob/c9264d2478fe2af82aeb6e2a0295b00b3a27ce53/src/telemetry/TelemetryDialog.cpp#L93-L94][Lines 93-94 of TelemetryDialog.cpp]] add buttons to the dialogue asking
the user whether they consent to data collection.[fn:12]~SetDefault~
focuses the button indicating that the user does consent. This means
that if the user doesn't really look at the dialogue and presses
Spacebar or Enter, or if they do so accidentally by simply bumping the
key, they unintentionally consent to data collection. If the user
desires, this can later be changed in the settings menu. However, if
they weren't aware what they were consenting to /or that they did
consent/, they won't know to go back and opt out.
There are other problems with the code that include [[https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835#discussion_r628816050][simple mistakes,]]
[[https://github.https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835#discussion_r628774985][styling that's inconsistent with the rest of the project,]] [[https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835#discussion_r628500849][unhandled
return values resulting in skewed data,]] [[https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835#discussion_r628792423][use of inappropriate functions,]]
and [[https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835#discussion_r628818054][spelling errors in the comments.]] I believe these are less important
that those above so they won't be discussed.
*** Community opinions
There were many strong opinions regarding both the frontend and backend
implementations of this PR, from the wording of the dialogue and
highlighting the consent button to devices running something other than
Windows and macOS not being able to send telemetry and thus skewing the
data that /was/ collected.
**** Opinions on the frontend
Really, the only frontend here is the consent dialogue. However, there
are /many/ comments about it, the most common of which is probably that
the wording is not only too vague[fn:13] but also inaccurate[fn:14]. The
assertion that Google Analytics are not anonymous and any data sent can
be trivially de-anonymised (or de-pseudonymised) is repeated many times
over. Below are a few links to comments stating such. I searched for the
term /"anonymous"/, copied relevant links, and stopped when my scrollbar
Another issue that was brought up by a couple of individuals was the
lack of a privacy policy.[fn:16] The consent dialogue links to one, but, at the
time of writing, one does not exist at [[https://www.audacityteam.org/contact/privacy-policy/][the provided URL.]] I have [[https://web.archive.org/web/20210510012924/https://www.audacityteam.org/contact/privacy-policy/][archived
the state of the page]] in case that changes in the future.
**** Opinions on the backend
#+BEGIN_SRC c
if (!inputFile.Write (wxString::FromUTF8 (ClientID + "\n")))
return false;
#+END_SRC
The issue many individuals take with this snippet is saving the
~ClientID~. Say an individual has an odd file that causes Audacity to
crash any time they try to open it. Say they attempt to open it a
hundred times. Without giving the client a unique ID, it could look like
there are 100 people having an issue opening a file instead of just the
one. However, by virtue of each installation having an entirely unique
ID, this telemetry /is not anonymous/. Anonymity would be sending
statistics in such a way that connecting those failed attempts to a
single user would be impossible. At best, this implementation is
/pseudonymous/ because the client is given a random ID, you don't have to
sign in with an account or something.
#+BEGIN_SRC c
def_vars()
set( CURL_DIR "${_INTDIR}/libcurl" )
set( CURL_TAG "curl-7_76_0")
#+END_SRC
Timothe Litt's comment gives a good description of why "vendoring in"
libcurl is a bad idea[fn:19] and Tyler True's comment gives a good
overview of the pros and cons of doing so.[fn:18] Many people take issue
with this /specifically/ because it's libcurl. Security flaws in it are
/very/ common and Audacity's copy would need to be /manually/ kept up to
date with every upstream release to ensure none of its vulnerabilities
can be leveraged to compromise users. If the Audacity team was going to
stay on top of all of the security fixes, they would need to release a
new version every week or so.
#+BEGIN_SRC c
ExternalProject_Add(curl
PREFIX "${CURL_DIR}"
INSTALL_DIR "${CURL_DIR}"
GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/curl/curl
GIT_TAG ${CURL_TAG}
GIT_SHALLOW Yes
CMAKE_CACHE_ARGS ${CURL_CMAKE_ARGS}
)
#+END_SRC
The problem with downloading curl at build-time is that it's simply
disallowed for many Linux- and BSD-based operation systems. When a
distribution builds an application from source, its build dependencies
are often downloaded ahead of time and, as a security measure, the build
machine is cut off from the internet to prevent any interference.
Because this is disallowed, the build will fail and the application
won't be available on those operation systems.
Note, however, that these build machines would have the option to
disable telemetry at build-time. This means the machine wouldn't attempt
to download curl from GitHub and the build would succeed but, again,
telemetry would be disabled for anyone not on Windows or macOS. This
defeats the whole purpose of adding telemetry in the first place.
** TODO Catchy title about Supernote being "the new paper" :Supernote:Writing:Productivity:Organisation:
:PROPERTIES:
:EXPORT_FILE_NAME: something-about-supernote
:EXPORT_HUGO_CUSTOM_FRONT_MATTER: :toc true
:END:
I like writing things down. I like the feel of the pen (preferably a
fountain pen) glide smoothly over the paper, that nice solid feeling of
the tip against the table, seeing the ink dry as it flows from the nib,
accidentally swiping my hand through it before it's finished and
smearing a bit of ink across the page, cursing under my breath as I dab
it up with a handkerchief or a napkin or something else nearby. I also
love that writing things by hand [[https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0956797614524581][has an impact on memory and improves
retention]].
*** The problem
Unfortunately, I don't love keeping up with that paper. Across many
different classes, even with dedicated folders for each one, something
important inevitably gets lost. Notebooks are also bulky and can take up
a lot of space. I tried [[https://bulletjournal.com/][bullet journalling]] for about a month earlier
this year and, while the process was enjoyable, the maintenance was not.
My brain moves faster than my pen (even though I have terrible
handwriting) and I inevitably forget letters or even whole words. This
is a problem while writing in pen because white-out looks ugly and I
dislike wasting whole pages because of a couple mistakes.
The obvious solution here is to get an iPad with an Apple Pen, right?
Right??
Wrong because Apple bad[fn:2].
*** The solution
Enter the world of ... what are they even called? E-ink notebooks? Paper
tablets? E-R/W[fn:1]? Do they even have a "device category" yet? I don't
know but they solve my problem in a wonderful way.
As the names suggest, these are devices that can /usually/ open and read
e-books (EPUBs, PDFs, etc.), annotate them, and create standalone pages
of notes as if they were full notebooks. The most well-known of these
devices is likely the [[https://remarkable.com/][reMarkable]]. They had a [[https://venturebeat.com/2019/10/08/remarkable-raises-15-million-to-bring-its-e-paper-tablets-to-more-scribblers/][hugely successful
crowdfunding campaign]] and produced the reMarkable 1, followed by [[https://blog.remarkable.com/remarkable-2-the-next-generation-paper-tablet-91b47d0080cb][the
reMarkable 2 in 2020]]. There are a few others by now but we'll look at
the reMarkable first.
*** The reMarkable
This device boasts all of the features I was looking for. It renders
digital content, from books and manuals to comics and light novels,
allows you to mark those documents up as you would if it were physical
media, create full notebooks of hand written text, organise them,
search, and, if your handwriting is legible enough (mine certainly is
not), perform OCR on your notes and email a transcription to yourself.
It even runs Linux and the developers have opened SSH up so you can
remote in and tinker with it as much as you like. Because of this,
there's a pretty awesome [[https://github.com/reHackable/awesome-reMarkable][community of people creating third-party tools
and integrations]] that add even further functionality. My favourite is
probably [[https://github.com/bordaigorl/rmview][rMview]], a really fast VNC client for the reMarkable that allows
you to view your device's screen on any computer.
After watching all of [[https://www.youtube.com/c/MyDeepGuide][MyDeepGuide's]] [[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsSI9-gaSSmiXwb7Vjk5Vb-nB41UTnrXd][extensive playlist on the
reMarkable]], however, I decided to go with a different product.
*** Enter the Supernote A5X
The [[https://www.supernote.com/#/product?type=SN-A5-X][Supernote A5X]] has all of the basic features the reMarkable has:
reading documents, writing notes, and organising your content. Its
implementation, on the other hand, seems to be much more polished. It
also lacks some features from the reMarkable while adding others.
*** Operating System
While the reMarkable runs Codex[fn:3], a /"custom Linux-based OS
optimised for low-latency e-paper"/, the Supernote just runs Android.
There are both benefits and detriments to this; on one hand, they're
running all of Android, bloated that it is, on a very lightweight
tablet. On the other, they don't have to develop and maintain a custom
operating system. This allows them to focus on other aspects that are
arguably more important so I don't actually mind that it runs Android.
The only place that Android stands out is in system operations; file
transfer uses MTP and, when you swipe down from the top of the device, a
small bar appears similar to what was in early Android. This lets you
change WiFi networks, sync with the companion app on your LAN, the
remote servers, take a screenshot, search, and access the system
settings. Nothing else about the device really makes me think of
Android.
*** Community
I don't usually browse Reddit but [[https://old.reddit.com/r/Supernote/][the Supernote community]] there is
fascinating. I haven't looked around enough to know exactly what his
relationship is with the company, but one of the members, [[https://old.reddit.com/user/hex2asc][u/hex2asc]],
seems to represent Supernote in something of an official capacity. He's
incredibly active and usually responds to posts and questions within a
couple of days.
Before I purchased one, [[https://old.reddit.com/r/Supernote/comments/lhffyd/sync_targets_open_document_formats_and_crossnote/][I wrote a post]] asking about a couple of things
that concerned me: sync targets, open document formats, and cross-note
links. I don't ever plan to write full documents with a keyboard on the
Supernote but it would still be nice. The other features would be
absolutely killer for me as I would like to maintain a Zettelkasten (I
wrote about [[/vim-as-a-markdown-editor/][using Vim to do so]] last year but didn't end up sticking with
it) and manage document synchronisation with my own Nextcloud server.
The community was quick to respond and confirm that Zettelkasten
functionality would be implemented soon™. u/hex2asc responded /the day
after/ and said that WebDAV would be supported but not earlier than May,
ODF would likely not be supported, and cross-note links were definitely
a possibility. Another community member has been avidly following the
subreddit and even put together an [[https://app-rm.roadmunk.com/publish/03e6dca3d769e2b7015f7f48a649cb3f75f44d9e][unofficial roadmap]].
*** Interfaces
**** Home & Organisation
***** TODO Record very short videos
**** Settings
***** TODO Record very short videos
**** Writing & Annotating
The following images are screenshots of the full page above with the
possible UI variations while reading a book. This first one is default,
with the editing bar at the top. It is exactly the same as what's
displayed on the blank pages for hand writing full notes. From left to
right is the Table of Contents toggle, the pen tools (fineliner,
"fountain" pen[fn:5], and highlighter), the erasers, lasso select tool,
[fn:19] [[https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835#issuecomment-834451187][Link to the comment]] and [[/assets/pngs/audacity-pr/privatelibcurl.png][link to the screenshot]]
[fn:18] [[https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835#issuecomment-834010117][Link to the comment]] and [[/assets/pngs/audacity-pr/vendorproscons.png][link to the screenshot]]
[fn:17] [[https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835#issuecomment-836069326][Link to the comment]] and [[/assets/pngs/audacity-pr/tantacrulrole.png][link to the screenshot]]
[fn:16] [[https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835#discussion_r627762185][Link to the comment]] and [[/assets/pngs/audacity-pr/missingprivacypolicy.png][link to the screenshot]]
[fn:15] [[https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835#issuecomment-834286641][Link to the comment]] and [[/assets/pngs/audacity-pr/darkpattern.png][link to the screenshot]]
[fn:14] [[https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835#discussion_r627764300][Link to the comment]] and the screenshot is the same as previous
[fn:13] [[https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835#discussion_r627756976][Link to the comment]] and [[/assets/pngs/audacity-pr/vaguedialogue.png][link to the screenshot]]
[fn:12] [[https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835#discussion_r628124998][Link to the review]] and [[/assets/pngs/audacity-pr/defaultconsentbutton.png][link to the screenshot]]
[fn:11] [[https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835#discussion_r628008821][Link to the review]] and [[/assets/pngs/audacity-pr/externaldependency.png][link to the screenshot]]
[fn:10] [[https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835#discussion_r628005925][Link to the review]] and [[/assets/pngs/audacity-pr/vendorcurl.png][link to the screenshot]]
[fn:9] Note that because I am not a C programmer, these reviews might
not be entirely accurate and I wouldn't be able to catch the reviewer's
error. I am relying on other community members to catch issues and
comment on them; none of the reviews I link to have such comments so I'm
assuming they are correct.
[fn:8] [[https://github.com/audacity/audacity/pull/835#discussion_r627993755][Link to the review]] and [[/assets/pngs/audacity-pr/writeanalyticsid.png][link to the screenshot]]
[fn:7] /Optical Character Recognition/: the program looks at your
handwriting and tries to turn it into text.
[fn:6] In this situation, latency refers to how long it takes for "ink"
[fn:3]Taken from their [[https://support.remarkable.com/hc/en-us/articles/360006699537-About-reMarkable-2-][support page about the reMarkable 2]]; search the
page for /operating system/ and it should show up.
[fn:2]I dislike Apple's operating system, their hardware, business
model, privacy practises, and much of what they stand for as a company.
Don't @ me.
[fn:1]E-R/W is a play on media commonly being labelled as R/W when you
