It's not a privacy breach to collect the file extensions you've edited bucketed by time. (Collecting the list of installed packages is debatable.) The unacceptable breach of trust was that they tried to hide the fact that they were doing it. It was incredibly stupid to hide it, since few people would've cared if they were just honest. Now they're in the same category as paid spyware marketers.

I'd rather look like a fool and get to the truth than stay silent and let a story go half told. At least people are clear about what precisely was being collected.