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Ubuntu 12.10 to include adverts by default, also no more live disk.

MrColin

MrColin

Platinum Member
Unity is competing with Apple, Microsoft, Google, etc, who all push their users to paid offerings in some way. I'm curious why Ubuntu chose Amazon and not the Ubuntu One store for their search (it makes me wonder about the future of Ubuntu One), but I'm not worked up about it.

As for the live CD, every computer in my home and at work that is capable of meets Ubuntu's minimum requirements has a DVD drive. Not that it matters, since all I use the ISO for is building USB installers, but still. I'm sure the distros targeting old computers, like Lubuntu or Xubuntu, will still have live CDs available.
 
I don't understand either gripe.

Other loved Linux distros don't use a CD-based installation either and people don't whine. When was the last time somebody complained Mint required a DVD?

The ads are exactly what MS and Android do as well. So long as Canonical makes money and gets Ubuntu and Linux into more households and more users know about it the better off the Linux community is.

The #1 issue with Linux is the small market share. If getting ad revenue means more developers, more Linux advertisement and more users then hardware vendors pay attention and we all win.
 
I'm kind of ambivalent about the whole thing. I'm just watching to see where it all goes. Canonical's headed into uncharted territory, and it'll be an interesting ride. It's not for me anymore, but that's why we have more than one distro.

LiveCD? Meh... Software fattens up over time, and Ubuntu isn't known for being light. The choice is increasing the size, or cut features. I think increasing the size is the right choice for Ubuntu. I'd raise it even further to 975mb. That would fit comfortably on a 1gb USB stick, but still be reasonable.
 
Advertisements can be cool. My objection is to the old school, "Do anything you can, no matter how obnoxious, so that people think about you." It works, but my response is to do anything I can to avoid the ads. If the ads are obnoxious and unavoidable, then I hope everyone ditches Ubuntu.

But ads don't have to be that way. Engaging people works well too. Anandtech has lots of reviews and people using the forums spend a great deal of effort discussing commercial products and services. I really enjoy Anandtech and spend more money on tech products as a result. I spend a lot of time at another forum that is really little more than a self-targeting advertisement. I like that one too.

From what I hear, the Ubuntu ads will be old school, but easily removed. That's a small price to pay for a fine collection of software. I hope thay do well and stick around for a long time. I think Shuttleworth and Ubuntu have brought a lot of people into the Linux community who otherwise would not have joined us. More power to them.
 
I sorta have mixed feelings about this. As long as it continues to be free, and does not turn into some shareware crap, is the main thing. As long as the ads are easy to remove I guess. It just worries me that they are going so commercial it's a matter of time if they decide to just charge for it, kinda like what with Red Hat. Then again there would just be a free spin off anyway. That's the beauty with Open Source and GPL.
 
lxskllr said:
I'm kind of ambivalent about the whole thing. I'm just watching to see where it all goes. Canonical's headed into uncharted territory, and it'll be an interesting ride. It's not for me anymore, but that's why we have more than one distro.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. So long as the user has the choice to remove it if they don't want it. Ubuntu has changed dramatically over the past two years and like you, its no longer a distro I would consider.

LiveCD? Meh... Software fattens up over time, and Ubuntu isn't known for being light. The choice is increasing the size, or cut features. I think increasing the size is the right choice for Ubuntu. I'd raise it even further to 975mb. That would fit comfortably on a 1gb USB stick, but still be reasonable.
Click to expand...

Increasing the image size is the smartest thing they've done in a while. In the age of cheap and ubiquitous DVD burners and flash drives, its about time they moved away from that size limitation.
 
vtx1300 said:
just remove it if you want:
sudo apt-get remove unity-lens-shopping
Click to expand...

See? That is another FAIL right there. If you're claiming that your OS is user friendly, you never force the user to go the package manager or drop to the command line to make a simple configuration change.

Removing the ads should be as easy as right clicking on the ad window and clicking on the "Disable" option.
 
ultimatebob said:
See? That is another FAIL right there. If you're claiming that your OS is user friendly, you never force the user to go the package manager or drop to the command line to make a simple configuration change.

Removing the ads should be as easy as right clicking on the ad window and clicking on the "Disable" option.
Click to expand...

I now see why Microsoft came out with this OS ...

bobboot1sm.gif


Yes I agree - You should not attempt installing Ubuntu - it will be wayyyy too complicated for you.
 
Last edited:
The whole thing just violates what I want and expect from a GNU/Linux OS. I don't want personal data leakage turned on by default. Consider this from the Quantal development forum @ ubuntuforums.
Quote: Originally Posted by stinkeye
Coincidence?
Does the privacy policy allow the sharing of my UbuntuOne email address
to ISV partners of which Amazon is one.
The reason I ask is because just recently I started receiving
emails from Amazon localdeals.
Never used amazon and never had emails from them before.
Click to expand...

It probably is, check the Ubuntu One Privacy Policy here
Click to expand...
It has a potential to paint a huge target on the backs of ubuntu users for phishing and social engineering.
I do wish Cannonical all kinds of success but not this way. I don't see having the shopping distraction in local app and doc searches having any appeal to their targets in the enterprise and institutional markets either. I'm also a bit disenchanted with Amazon and similar retailers as of late: http://www.motherjones.com/politics...free-online-shipping-warehouses-labor?page=1#
 
MrColin said:
The whole thing just violates what I want and expect from a GNU/Linux OS. I don't want personal data leakage turned on by default. Consider this from the Quantal development forum @ ubuntuforums.

It has a potential to paint a huge target on the backs of ubuntu users for phishing and social engineering.
I do wish Cannonical all kinds of success but not this way. I don't see having the shopping distraction in local app and doc searches having any appeal to their targets in the enterprise and institutional markets either. I'm also a bit disenchanted with Amazon and similar retailers as of late: http://www.motherjones.com/politics...free-online-shipping-warehouses-labor?page=1#
Click to expand...

I hear ya. I think it might be useful to think of Ubuntu as being different from other distros. They're competing for the consumer level market on almost the same terms as MS or Apple. AFAIK, this hasn't really been done before, not at this level anyway. Canonical's building a whole platform that integrates several consumer technologies. They're VERY commercially oriented, so I think it's more useful to compare them to the big commercial players. They're e freer version of the big guys, but not as free as other distros.

I'd be cautious dealing with them going into the future, but if they successfully commercialize GNU/Linux, it'll likely help us all. It'll bring more support for the platform, and it should bring us more people who want to take computing freedom to the next level. The affiliate links are slightly distasteful, but as long as people are vigilant about security and privacy, it'll be ok.
 
I think Cononical want's OEM's attention and they want Tablets that Google is now enjoying. its hard to ignore proprietary and the Linux community fights it while consumers require it. Maybe they want what MS is approaching, an OS for tablets,phone and desktop/lappy but they would OEM's to get it moving in mass consumers hands and gain developer interest.

ultimatebob said:
See? That is another FAIL right there. If you're claiming that your OS is user friendly, you never force the user to go the package manager or drop to the command line to make a simple configuration change.

Removing the ads should be as easy as right clicking on the ad window and clicking on the "Disable" option.
Click to expand...

That has always been my main gripe, even today, if i ask how do i do/change/fix..etc, something, the response starts 99% of the time with the words "open terminal and type"

i literally had to type in over 50 commands to get my crap the way i wanted it, even to install certain apps and drivers😵...and still could not use my Ipad as intended, Netflix or any of the things that most consumers want to do. I had to do some funky stuff to get a workable AAC conversion for music..i could go on. It was like the community has excuses, its not linux it's 3rd party...sure, whatever but if it defeats the use of the OS, it still falls back on the OS in question and you use whatever is gonna work the easiest.

So what am i doing on here, this Linux. Browsing safely, no malware...but that's pretty much it at this point after an exhaustive amount of time spent trying to get something it's not going to be anytime soon.

If i or others like me could limit myself to the year 1998 with isolated devices and simply harvest music to play from computer speakers, word process and watch ripped, pre converted movies all while using generic apps that lack features even Android apps have, then we'd be fine with distro's default setup as the community seems to like us.

i do like Linux though, but its evolved to me liking it as the potential it has, i love some of the interfaces, the idea of things i could do if i knew code and the lack of limitations idea.
 
DarkVision said:
That has always been my main gripe, even today, if i ask how do i do/change/fix..etc, something, the response starts 99% of the time with the words "open terminal and type"
Click to expand...
Many times people do that on forums because it's easier to give a text string that can be copy/pasted into the terminal instead of a paragraph with 6 pictures to show how to do it through a gui. I use the terminal every so often, but not that much. I'm visually oriented, so gui programs suit me better, I've used GNU/Linux partially since 2008, and full time since 2010, and I've spent very little time in the terminal. I wouldn't say it's necessary at all. It is a nice addition to your toolbox, and it makes things easier, not harder.
 
I don't have a problem with ads, I have a problem with tactless and annoying ads. By the sound of it, though, Ubuntu won't be inflicting that upon us. I also prefer ads that are relevant, since I have been known to find things through ads before. If I am being subjected to an onslaught of useless crap, I will generally ignore them as a whole, like I do in most places on the internet. But if I notice they are relevant, I will be more likely to pay attention. LEARN THIS, ADVERTISERS!
 
DarkVision said:
I think Cononical want's OEM's attention and they want Tablets that Google is now enjoying. its hard to ignore proprietary and the Linux community fights it while consumers require it. Maybe they want what MS is approaching, an OS for tablets,phone and desktop/lappy but they would OEM's to get it moving in mass consumers hands and gain developer interest.



That has always been my main gripe, even today, if i ask how do i do/change/fix..etc, something, the response starts 99% of the time with the words "open terminal and type"

i literally had to type in over 50 commands to get my crap the way i wanted it, even to install certain apps and drivers😵...and still could not use my Ipad as intended, Netflix or any of the things that most consumers want to do. I had to do some funky stuff to get a workable AAC conversion for music..i could go on. It was like the community has excuses, its not linux it's 3rd party...sure, whatever but if it defeats the use of the OS, it still falls back on the OS in question and you use whatever is gonna work the easiest.

So what am i doing on here, this Linux. Browsing safely, no malware...but that's pretty much it at this point after an exhaustive amount of time spent trying to get something it's not going to be anytime soon.

If i or others like me could limit myself to the year 1998 with isolated devices and simply harvest music to play from computer speakers, word process and watch ripped, pre converted movies all while using generic apps that lack features even Android apps have, then we'd be fine with distro's default setup as the community seems to like us.

i do like Linux though, but its evolved to me liking it as the potential it has, i love some of the interfaces, the idea of things i could do if i knew code and the lack of limitations idea.
Click to expand...

I have come to love the terminal/command line. I have a shortcut to open a putty terminal to my linux server/router/fw in my Windows startup folder. I can hardly say I've mastered it but I know that everything is possible with a little bit of searching through the man pages/help text and the web. Fedora is currently my favorite desktop Linux OS. I'm not sure I would have gotten into Linux at all if it wasn't for Ubuntu back in 2006. Stop worrying and learn to love the command prompt. There is so much power and flexibility there!
 
lxskllr said:
Many times people do that on forums because it's easier to give a text string that can be copy/pasted into the terminal instead of a paragraph with 6 pictures to show how to do it through a gui. I use the terminal every so often, but not that much. I'm visually oriented, so gui programs suit me better, I've used GNU/Linux partially since 2008, and full time since 2010, and I've spent very little time in the terminal. I wouldn't say it's necessary at all. It is a nice addition to your toolbox, and it makes things easier, not harder.
Click to expand...

It's good to hear that people are finding the Linux GUI useful. Myself, I periodically load up a gnome or KDE desktop and then just get frustrated trying to do things exactly the way I would like to thinking this would be easier if I could just write out what I want it to do. So I go back to a minimal window manager and do as much as I can at a terminal. Come to think about it, that's what I used to do with Windows, too.

But for Linux to remain a viable alternative to the personal computing proprietary software world, it must always try to make its appeal as broad as practical. I worry that Linux will degenerate to an OS that is only useful on servers or embedded devices. So to try and make this even vaguely on topic, if this addition of shopping results to desktop searches broadens the appeal of Ubuntu then it's a positive thing. Those concerned about privacy and the annoyance of ads can deal with it because they can, while in other OSs they might not be able to.
 
Meh. An interface that most of us won't see, because it has all the strengths of wet paper, will now have largely unobtrusive attack vectorsads. I mean, I wanted to be able to get worked up about it, but seeing what it is, I just can't.

Shame on the OP for using the wording, "no more live disk," though. They are doing no such thing. They are just finally deciding that CDs aren't worth cramming a big desktop OS into, which is just fine. When was the last time you used a computer that couldn't boot from DVD? 1999, or thereabouts?
 
vtx1300 said:
I now see why Microsoft came out with this OS ...

bobboot1sm.gif


Yes I agree - You should not attempt installing Ubuntu - it will be wayyyy too complicated for you.
Click to expand...

Smartass 🙂

I don't have a problem using the command line when I'm using a business oriented Linux distribution like RHEL, but Ubuntu is trying to make Linux as easy as using a Mac. You can't claim that your distro is easy to use and newbie friendly, and still force users to drop to the command line and type a bunch of cryptic commands every time something doesn't work as expected.
 
ultimatebob said:
Smartass 🙂

I don't have a problem using the command line when I'm using a business oriented Linux distribution like RHEL, but Ubuntu is trying to make Linux as easy as using a Mac. You can't claim that your distro is easy to use and newbie friendly, and still force users to drop to the command line and type a bunch of cryptic commands every time something doesn't work as expected.
Click to expand...

So you should retract your previous post then because the ads being there is it working as expected and thus requires no cli work to "fix". =)
 
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