craig10x wrote:@dee: obviously you are not aware of the fact that the information you type into dash search on ubuntu (assuming you leave the online search activated, which you can turn off if you want to) the information is sent INVISIBLY and ANONYMOUSLY to amazon and their server simply responds with some ad suggestions...Amazon has no access to your computer...no one at Amazon can even see what you are doing...
They say it's sent "invisibly and anonymously"... but, you don't really know that, because the server-side code is proprietary.
Also, you're a bit too naïve in your views about this. Snowden should have been a wakeup call, we can't take privacy issues lightly anymore. Convention on every UI on a home computer ever has taught us that what we type in the launcher stays local. Amazon et al. may not know the exact IP a keyword is coming from, but what guarantee is there that they won't know how to group queries from the same source? We don't know, because, once again, the server-side code is proprietary and closed. Furthermore, let's say you have a file on your computer named "John Quackson's Colon Cancer Report" and you try to search that file through the dash. The entire search term gets sent, and if the search term itself contains private information, it still gets sent. You have to be careful what you type on your own computer, in an interface that is by all convention thought as local by users.
Again, I wouldn't have problem with this if the entire feature was opt-in and well-documented. But as it is, it has some serious privacy implications that aren't instantly obvious to a non-tech-savvy user.
craig10x wrote:It's similar to the targetted ads you see on the linux mint forums...yet, i don't see you objected to those...both the traget ads on mint forums and the shopping lens on ubuntu's dash have the same goal...GENERATE SOME REVENUE TO HELP DEVELOPMENT...
There is no need to shout. No, it is not comparable at all. When I'm on a web browser, it's obvious that I'm connected on the internet. Also no one forces me to go to Linux Mint forums even if I use Linux Mint - it's entirely opt-in. There are no ads in the actual UI in Linux Mint, and it should stay that way. The UI should be for the user's benefit.
craig10x wrote:I wasn't going to bother commenting but just had to mention that...since you seem to have some misconceptions on how that works...
That's very sweet of you, but I have no misconceptions.
And yes, without Ubuntu, Linux would remain a niche operating system used by a very small percentage of computer users...
That's a very arrogant point of view. Do you have some evidence to back up this claim, or is it just a baseless opinion?
Ubuntu has been active for several years, and Linux is still a niche OS on the desktop OS market. Truthfully, Ubuntu hasn't really had that much of an impact on the usage stats of Linux.
As for the future, like I said in my previous post, there are developments which are likely to affect Linux desktop marketshare much more profoundly than Ubuntu ever did.
craig10x wrote:A lot of people have heard of Ubuntu who never heard of linux....and many people stumble upon ubuntu, are impressed by their site, and get inspired to try ubuntu and then perhaps become part of the overall linux community...Ubuntu IS the AMBASSADOR of linux...deny all you like...the truth will not go away...
No... Ubuntu is the ambassador of Ubuntu.
It's funny, mint's leader, Clem apparently doesn't have the ubuntu hate that some of you mint users seem to have...if he did, he wouldn't be using is as his work base...apparently, and unlike some of you here, he APPRECIATES ubuntu and what it brings to your mint experience...
Has someone here expressed "hate" towards Ubuntu? Criticizing something does not equate to "hating" it. Personally I wish only good things for Ubuntu and I hope Canonical succeeds in making Ubuntu a viable platform. But the direction they're going recently is not something that I personally consider a smart move. They're creating an OS that is not compatible with the rest of the ecosystem, they're setting themselves apart form the rest of the Linux ecosystem.
Ubuntu is also making it increasingly difficult to base a distro on them. It's all fun and games now, but what about when they go full-on Mir? Mir only runs Unity, no other DE supports it. Everyone basing on Ubuntu will have to replace the entire stack. The solution offered by Canonical devs? "Just run everything on top of Xmir like we're doing". Oh that's a nice bandaid solution (that causes extra overhead for no gain) but whatabout when other DE's move to Wayland?
No, there's no hate on my part. I criticize Canonical because I hope they will change their direction, because I think their current direction will only lead to their doom. I want to see Canonical succeed, but I don't really see it happening with the way they're currently proceeding. It doesn't take a genius to see that. And don't kid yourself, if Ubuntu dies, it will not kill the Linux desktop. Mint will survive even without Ubuntu. Debian, Fedora, Arch, Opensuse, Sabayon, Mageia, RHEL, Gentoo - all will be unaffected. Intel and their plans with Tizen will be unaffected. Valve's plans with Steambox will be unaffected. And if Intel releases their Tizen ultrabooks, they will increase the desktop Linux marketshare much more than what Ubuntu ever had, because Intel will be able to get them to the reach of average consumers, to regular retail shops all across the world. They have the resources to do that, even if Microsoft whines about it.