Cynical me could imagine the conversation might go something along these lines:
Alice> We want to do a thing, and we want everyone to do it without being able to realistically avoid it while still saying "we gave them an option"
Bob> Let's use DNT, it's used by almost no-one and is largely obsolete.
Alice> Perfect!
It's a bit like web sites that allow you to opt out of tracking and targetted advertising by directing you at the cookie config settings in your web browser. A token gesture.
There's no need to be cynical, the situation you posed is 100% within the realm of possibility when you consider that the actions Gitlab took benefit Gitlab greatly.
Alice> We want to do a thing, and we want everyone to do it without being able to realistically avoid it while still saying "we gave them an option"
Bob> Let's use DNT, it's used by almost no-one and is largely obsolete.
Alice> Perfect!
It's a bit like web sites that allow you to opt out of tracking and targetted advertising by directing you at the cookie config settings in your web browser. A token gesture.