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I don't get the outrage. I don't see people say similar things when authors display "sponsor my work on OpenCollective/Github Sponsors" through messages on npm

I don't get the outrage. I don't see people say similar things when authors display "sponsor my work on OpenCollective/Github Sponsors" through messages on npm install and the like. A simple text notification offering a paid service for an otherwise free OSS software is really pushing the definition of what an "ad" is.

input_sh 4y ago
It's not even paid, at least not for personal use. From the website: > Anyone can use Ubuntu Pro for free on up to 5 machines, or 50 if you are an official Ubuntu Community member. From what I can tell it's LTS but with double support (10 years instead of 5).
Arnavion 4y ago
>I don't see people say similar things when authors display "sponsor my work on OpenCollective/Github Sponsors" through messages on npm install and the like. People did say similar things about that. It was a big shitshow. https://www.zdnet.com/article/npm-bans-terminal-ads/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/npm-bans-terminal-ads/ And even if you don't count donation requests as ads, the article mentions those too: >The upcoming change will allow developers to silence any type of non-error terminal messages, such as ads, or calls for donations -- an issue many times more widespread[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] than Funding's ads ever were. Those are all links to people complaining about donation requests.
rroot 4y ago
>notification offering a paid service I think a "notification offering a paid service" could be pretty good definition of an ad, certainly no "pushing the definition" in that.
denton-scratch 4y ago
The packages installed by npm install are not Debian packages, and don't offer Debian guarantees. Offering a paid service when nobody asked is the very definition of an ad.
BurningPenguin 4y ago
It's not the first time Canonical is pulling this kind of thing. Years ago, they were showing Amazon ads in their launcher in Unity[1]. I guess this made people quite skeptical about this. APT is also one of the most important and sensitive parts of the OS. Ads have no place there, no matter from whom they are. What if they decide to put third party ads in there too? "Thank you for installing Apache, but first a word from our new sponsors shadow legends..." [1] https://www.eff.org/de/deeplinks/2012/10/privacy-ubuntu-1210-amazon-ads-and-data-leaks https://www.eff.org/de/deeplinks/2012/10/privacy-ubuntu-1210...
NotYourLawyer 4y ago
No, this is squarely within the normal definition of “ad.” Maybe you’ve just become too used to ads by being exposed to the modern web.

input_sh 4y ago

It's not even paid, at least not for personal use. From the website: > Anyone can use Ubuntu Pro for free on up to 5 machines, or 50 if you are an official Ubuntu Community member. From what I can tell it's LTS but with double support (10 years instead of 5).

Arnavion 4y ago

>I don't see people say similar things when authors display "sponsor my work on OpenCollective/Github Sponsors" through messages on npm install and the like. People did say similar things about that. It was a big shitshow. https://www.zdnet.com/article/npm-bans-terminal-ads/ https://www.zdnet.com/article/npm-bans-terminal-ads/ And even if you don't count donation requests as ads, the article mentions those too: >The upcoming change will allow developers to silence any type of non-error terminal messages, such as ads, or calls for donations -- an issue many times more widespread[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6] than Funding's ads ever were. Those are all links to people complaining about donation requests.

rroot 4y ago

>notification offering a paid service I think a "notification offering a paid service" could be pretty good definition of an ad, certainly no "pushing the definition" in that.

denton-scratch 4y ago

The packages installed by npm install are not Debian packages, and don't offer Debian guarantees. Offering a paid service when nobody asked is the very definition of an ad.

BurningPenguin 4y ago

It's not the first time Canonical is pulling this kind of thing. Years ago, they were showing Amazon ads in their launcher in Unity[1]. I guess this made people quite skeptical about this. APT is also one of the most important and sensitive parts of the OS. Ads have no place there, no matter from whom they are. What if they decide to put third party ads in there too? "Thank you for installing Apache, but first a word from our new sponsors shadow legends..." [1] https://www.eff.org/de/deeplinks/2012/10/privacy-ubuntu-1210-amazon-ads-and-data-leaks https://www.eff.org/de/deeplinks/2012/10/privacy-ubuntu-1210...

NotYourLawyer 4y ago

No, this is squarely within the normal definition of “ad.” Maybe you’ve just become too used to ads by being exposed to the modern web.