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> trying to ram this type of behaviour down my throat is despicable unethical behaviour and I don't condone it. It is why I've switched to Linux for my daily co

by dc3k 10y ago

> trying to ram this type of behaviour down my throat is despicable unethical behaviour and I don't condone it. It is why I've switched to Linux for my daily computing needs. Last time I used Linux (well, Ubuntu specifically) every time I searched for anything in the file system I would see at least half a dozen ads for products on Amazon. Significantly worse than anything I've ever seen in Windows 10 personally. Uninstalled it and never using it again.

pmiller2 10y ago
Really? I've never seen that. Is it under GNOME in the default install?
- pikzen 10y ago
  It was in one of Ubuntu's releases, 16.04 I believe? Unity included Amazon results in its search results. EDIT: 12.04. Time flies. Memory sucks.
  - ericd 10y ago
    I'm using 16.04 right now, how does one trigger those? I've never seen them.
    - pikzen 10y ago
      I was wrong, it was actually in the 12.04 days. Didn't remember it to be so long ago. I believe it's disabled by default in newer releases. http://www.pcworld.com/article/2840401/ubuntus-unity-8-desktop-removes-the-amazon-search-spyware.html http://www.pcworld.com/article/2840401/ubuntus-unity-8-deskt...
      - aban 10y ago
        It was indeed 12.04 and only affecting Unity (Canonical's Desktop Environment), not other DE's like GNOME or KDE. You should check out https://fixubuntu.com https://fixubuntu.com nonetheless, which surfaced at that time, is still up and relevant.
      - ericd 10y ago
        Ah that's good that they seem to have come to their senses.
dws 10y ago
I found it fairly easy to turn those off. YMapparentlyV'd.
pera 10y ago
I believe Ubuntu was the only Linux distribution doing such thing (https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/ubuntu-spyware.en.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/ubuntu-spyware.en.html). You may want to try some other distribution like Fedora, openSUSE or Debian.
vacri 10y ago
Yes, one distro (of dozens people use) tried running ads once, it was a PR disaster, and they stopped doing it quite a while back.
- mappu 10y ago
  The Unity fiasco wasn't the only PR disaster Ubuntu has had over monetizing Amazon integration: around the 11.04 timeframe they semi-blackmailed Banshee over their integrated music store and added Canonical affiliate links.
- mattmanser 10y ago
  That a bit like saying "Google, one of dozens of browser makers". Ubuntu has 50% market share.
  - vacri 10y ago
    If you want to be pedantic about it, why not focus on the ads being half a decade ago and not in the past couple of LTS releases?
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
reactor 10y ago
Not anymore, they (Ubuntu) turned it off.
simion314 10y ago
There was just 1 checkbox to turn it off, not lots of checkboxes and hidden registry entries like in Windows and I think not all telemetry can be turned off on normal Windows, you need Enterprise

by dc3k 10y ago

pmiller2 10y ago

Really? I've never seen that. Is it under GNOME in the default install?

pikzen 10y ago
It was in one of Ubuntu's releases, 16.04 I believe? Unity included Amazon results in its search results. EDIT: 12.04. Time flies. Memory sucks.
- ericd 10y ago
  I'm using 16.04 right now, how does one trigger those? I've never seen them.
  - pikzen 10y ago
    I was wrong, it was actually in the 12.04 days. Didn't remember it to be so long ago. I believe it's disabled by default in newer releases. http://www.pcworld.com/article/2840401/ubuntus-unity-8-desktop-removes-the-amazon-search-spyware.html http://www.pcworld.com/article/2840401/ubuntus-unity-8-deskt...
    - aban 10y ago
      It was indeed 12.04 and only affecting Unity (Canonical's Desktop Environment), not other DE's like GNOME or KDE. You should check out https://fixubuntu.com https://fixubuntu.com nonetheless, which surfaced at that time, is still up and relevant.
    - ericd 10y ago
      Ah that's good that they seem to have come to their senses.

dws 10y ago

I found it fairly easy to turn those off. YMapparentlyV'd.

pera 10y ago

I believe Ubuntu was the only Linux distribution doing such thing (https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/ubuntu-spyware.en.html https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/ubuntu-spyware.en.html). You may want to try some other distribution like Fedora, openSUSE or Debian.

vacri 10y ago

Yes, one distro (of dozens people use) tried running ads once, it was a PR disaster, and they stopped doing it quite a while back.

mappu 10y ago
The Unity fiasco wasn't the only PR disaster Ubuntu has had over monetizing Amazon integration: around the 11.04 timeframe they semi-blackmailed Banshee over their integrated music store and added Canonical affiliate links.
mattmanser 10y ago
That a bit like saying "Google, one of dozens of browser makers". Ubuntu has 50% market share.
- vacri 10y ago
  If you want to be pedantic about it, why not focus on the ads being half a decade ago and not in the past couple of LTS releases?
deleted 10y ago
[deleted]

reactor 10y ago

Not anymore, they (Ubuntu) turned it off.

simion314 10y ago

There was just 1 checkbox to turn it off, not lots of checkboxes and hidden registry entries like in Windows and I think not all telemetry can be turned off on normal Windows, you need Enterprise