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Ubuntu Will Now Have Amazon Ads Pre-Installed

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Re: Ubuntu Will Now Have Amazon Ads Pre-Installed

#191

Post by fexl »

naner wrote: post #104

It is beyond time for Ubuntu to quit pussyfooting around and partner with ASUS or some other competent hardware manufacturer* and sell Ubuntu-branded laptops on the Ubuntu website. The Linux desktop (in various incarnations) has been in "testing" for over 15 years. Shuttleworth created Canonical and hired designers and developers to put together a 1st-class desktop system. Time to double down. Try and get some real c…

I am very happy with the laptop I bought here: http://linuxcertified.com/linux_laptops.html

Re: Ubuntu Will Now Have Amazon Ads Pre-Installed

#192

Post by nazgulnarsil »

jellicle wrote: post #159

I don't think Ubuntu has really thought this through. Besides the privacy problems, making your software into adware is incredibly destructive to its image. Ubuntu can no longer be used by any self-respecting or privacy-conscious company or individual. Imagine the CTO of IBM - "So, this Ubuntu is adware? And it sends all our searches to Amazon? Are you kidding me? Get out of my office and get me a list of real OSes,…

I don't think Ubuntu is really thought through.

Re: Ubuntu Will Now Have Amazon Ads Pre-Installed

#194

Post by human_error »

postfuturist wrote: post #26
bashzor wrote: post #2

What the hell... I'll never use Ubuntu again. Or well, at least not for a while, even after it's removed. They call this "free software"?

What about Firefox which has shipped with Google search default since forever, which Google pays Mozilla for, which Google makes money on? Will you never use Firefox again?

Not the same thing. Firefox doesn't send my local searches to Google. What Ubuntu does is a privacy breach.

Re: Ubuntu Will Now Have Amazon Ads Pre-Installed

#196

Post by saurik »

w1ntermute wrote: post #183
jellicle wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The technical situation has NOTHING to do with this problem. It is a social problem, an image problem, a branding problem. Ubuntu is now low-class software, and high-class people use high-class software.

Meh, I think that applies more to the consumer market than it does to the corporate market. If the corporate market were concerned only about branding, everyone would be using a Mac. And although there has been a trend in that direction, the overwhelming majority of corporate computers are running Windows to this day.

Your example is confusing, as Mac is branded as a consumer product: if a corporate market "were concerned only about branding" it would choose Windows, not Mac, as Windows is branded as an office workstation. The word "branding" in this context does not mean "trending", it means something closer to "typecasting".

Re: Ubuntu Will Now Have Amazon Ads Pre-Installed

#197

Post by drivebyacct2 »

This would be a great time for a new Ubuntu derivative to step in and command the future of desktop Linux. Something that brought a fresh DE and friendly applications. (And no ads).

One that even happened to look nice: http://imgur.com/a/AbCwV/

(Not associated with elementary OS but very much enjoying it. It is a bit buggy still).

Re: Ubuntu Will Now Have Amazon Ads Pre-Installed

#198

Post by grantismo »

astine wrote: post #140
rbanffy wrote: post #137

Am I the only one here who thinks this is not disturbing at all? If you don't like it, it's not very difficult to turn off. If you find it too difficult to turn off, maybe Ubuntu is not the right operating system for you.

If this becomes an important money maker for Canonical, you just know that they will find a way to make it hard to turn off. This seems like the first step where they are willfully making the user experience worse rather than better, to fulfill a shortterm end. If this is the only way for Canonical to break even on Ubuntu, that says a lot about the future of desktop Linux in general.

Classic slippery slope fallacy. Until it's actually hard to turn off, this argument is meaningless.

Privacy concerns aside, in what ways does this actually worsen the user experience?

Re: Ubuntu Will Now Have Amazon Ads Pre-Installed

#199

Post by ps258 »

fromhet wrote: post #147
kintamanimatt wrote: post #52

Why don't they just ask for money from users? Have two versions: an ad supported one which people can easily remove the ads, and a paid version that doesn't come with the ad package by default, and maybe a few extra "premium" perks like wallpapers, themes, whatever that aren't in the FOSS repos together with extra backup space. They could charge on a par with OS X, say a total of $29 for the next two versions.

That would make it very non-free software. And that is what ubuntu is trying to not be.

You can sell free software. It's free as in freedom not as in free beer.

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/selling.html

> You can charge nothing, a penny, a dollar, or a billion dollars.

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