[Bradford] Ubuntu Spyware: What to do?

[Brian]

I go nearly with that. I don't think that Amazon should be in the search on the dash by default, it should be opt-in and then have the choice to separate the Amazon search from local searches - currently a music search, for example, will bring up locally stored music and  Amazon. I would  however, have included an Amazon icon in the menu bar and an explanation, on first boot-up, why it is there and how you can support Canonical by using it.

I don't look on Linux distributions, like Ubuntu, as being entirely free. Those of us who have Ubuntu for personal use are providing an army of testers for Canonical. That will mean that bugs are found more quickly and this will be of use to ensure that their commercial customers are better served.
I can see your point, Dick, about going for Debian rather than a derivative. That is my thinking in regard to Ubuntu and its derivatives. So, why don't I go one step further and go for Debian? There are several reasons for this. 

1. If I get a problem there are just so many people in the (X/L)ubuntu community that it is easy to find a solution. 
I now find that instead of putting 'Linux' in the Google search I am more likely to get what I am looking for if I use 'Ubuntu' instead.

2. There is so much innovation on the Ubuntu side that, for me, makes it more exciting than Debian. 
3. Ubuntu was the first Linux distro I tried - so I have a mountain of Tomboy notes on how to fix and do things on Ubuntu. Some of these will apply to Debian but in some ways Ubuntu is not compatible with Debian. So, I suppose I stick to what I know in the same way as RHEL users do.

4. Ubuntu has had a tremendous impact on the Linux world, with Canonical working hard to improve the experience of Ubuntu right from the installation phase onwards. For this reason I think they deserve my support.

Brian



________________________________
 From: Dick Thomas <Dick at xpd259.co.uk>
To: Brian <bradlug at techchico.org.uk> 
Cc: BradfordLinuxUserGroup <bradford at mailman.lug.org.uk> 
Sent: Tuesday, 1 January 2013, 3:58
Subject: Re: [Bradford] Ubuntu Spyware: What to do?
 

I personally think what they should of done is made the amazon/shopping lens disabled by default and allow you to enable 
it on the installer after explaining it

and then made the shopping lens it's own entity not built into the main search

long as gnome don't do it I'm happy, I abandoned Ubuntu a while back for Debian, why use a Debian derivative when I can use debian

Dick


On 31 December 2012 16:54, Brian <bradlug at techchico.org.uk> wrote:

The so-called spyware is in the Unity dash. implicit in this is that it is only in Ubuntu. I use Ubuntu but with GNOME 3 so I don't get anything like that. Personally I think that Canonical just handled the Amazon thing badly. They have been told about it and you can disable it in the settings. Currently it disables all Unity searches when you do this. I think that they should have just put an Amazon icon on the menu and left it at that. I don't blame Canonical for trying to make some money. Mark must have spent a shed-load of dosh on Ubuntu so far. Now there is a request for a donation when downloading Ubuntu. I don't blame them for trying to make some money but they handled it badly. I disagree with some of the stuff that RMS comes out with. If you saw the interview on the Linux Action Show you'd probably see what I mean. Some of his ideas are impractical in the real world where people have to put food on the table.
>Brian
>
>
>
>
>________________________________
> From: Tomas Holderness <tomasholderness at gmail.com>
>To: David Carpenter <david.carpenter at nornir.co.uk> 
>Cc: bradford <bradford at mailman.lug.org.uk> 
>Sent: Monday, 31 December 2012, 16:42
>Subject: Re: [Bradford] Ubuntu Spyware: What to do?
> 
>
>
>Stallman makes a good case for not using Ubuntu. Further to his points, I'm also concerned about the Ubuntu-Amazon partnership given Amazon's tax avoidance here in the UK. 
>Am I right in thinking the Amazon search is only found in Ubuntu versions using the latest unity interface, and not derivatives such as xubuntu?
>Tom.
>On 31 Dec 2012 16:29, "David Carpenter" <david.carpenter at nornir.co.uk> wrote:
>
>You may be interested in...
>>
>>One of the major advantages of free software is that the community
>>protects users from malicious software. Now Ubuntu GNU/Linux has
>>become a counterexample. What should we do?
>>
>>http://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/ubuntu-spyware-what-to-do
>>
>>Cheers
>>David
>>
>>_______________________________________________
>>Bradford mailing list
>>Bradford at mailman.lug.org.uk
>>https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/bradford
>>
>_______________________________________________
>Bradford mailing list
>Bradford at mailman.lug.org.uk
>https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/bradford
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Bradford mailing list
>Bradford at mailman.lug.org.uk
>https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/bradford
>
>


-- 
About.me http://about.me/dick.thomas
Blog: www.xpd259.co.uk
G+:   www.google.com/profiles/xpd259


NOTE: This email and any information contained within or attached in a separate file is confidential and intended solely for the Individual to whom it is addressed. The information or data included is solely for the purpose indicated or previously agreed. Any information or data included with this e-mail remains the property of Richard Thomas and the recipient will refrain from utilising the information for any purpose other than that indicated and upon request will destroy the information and remove it from their records.

If you are not the intended recipient, be advised that you have received this email in error and that any use, dissemination, forwarding, printing, or copying of this email is strictly prohibited. No warranties or assurances are made in relation to the safety and content of this e-mail and any attachments. No liability is accepted for any consequences arising from it.

If you have received this email in error please notify me as soon as possible. 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.lug.org.uk/pipermail/bradford/attachments/20130101/f25f1bbc/attachment-0001.html>