[Ubuntu-US-CA] RMS vs. Amazon search results feature

[Leif Ryge]

On Thu, Dec 13, 2012 at 09:55:38PM -0800, Jono Bacon wrote:
> On Thu, Dec 13, 2012 at 9:27 PM, Grant Bowman <grantbow at ubuntu.com> wrote:
> > For discussion:
> > http://www.jonobacon.org/2012/12/07/on-richard-stallman-and-ubuntu/
> >
> > I am trying to reserve judgement but the 12.10 install I tried seemed
> > to sacrifice privacy a little too easily and I don't like the idea of
> > money being made by default from Ubuntu for Canonical. At the same
> > time I don't agree with all of what RMS said but some of what he says
> > is true for me. http://www.fsf.org/blogs/rms/ubuntu-spyware-what-to-do
> >
> > What do you think?
> >
> 
> "I don't like the idea of money being made by default from Ubuntu for
> Canonical"
> 
> What is the objection about Canonical making money in Ubuntu given the
> millions of dollars invested into Ubuntu?

My objection to the monetized search feature is that it represents a
further shift from the free software being the product and some of the
users being the customers toward the other business model where the
users' attention is the product and various 3rd parties are the
customers - making money "in Ubuntu" instead of on Ubuntu.

I think there are inevitable conflicts of interest down that path, and
I'm disappointed to see Canonical going there.

The dearth of useful "remote scopes" installed by default in 12.10
coupled with the fact that the Amazon scope is opt-out instead of opt-in
makes it seem as if these conflicts of interest are already in effect.

~leif
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