Richard Stallman Calls Ubuntu "Spyware"

[Awesomeness]

1. The ubuntu distro AND derivatives like mint etc, are the most widely used open source OS's and are the larger percentage in HOME linux ecosystems.

The most widely used open source OS is likely Android, although I am not that informed about the landscape of embedded Linux systems in smart TVs, routers, etc.
Some embedded Linux distribution may even top Android but in absolutely no case is Ubuntu the leading FOSS OS. Even Darwin easily tops Ubuntu.

3. Ubuntu not only made linux widely available to the masses it also presented a unique product.

No, that was Android. The advent of Ubuntu didn't change Linux' market share the slightest bit. Then came Android which transformed the whole market.
The only thing Ubuntu achieved was to kill most other Debian derivatives like Xandros or Linspire.

[Ex-Cyber]

The most widely used open source OS is likely Android

I suspect that FreeRTOS/OpenRTOS beats Android, though there's no way to be sure.

[Pallidus]

11 pages of rants and stupidity....

this thread needs to close and this will be the last post:

Stallman has absolutely no right to degrade canonical or tell people what to do or what to think.

When he himself knows that his words will be posted all over popular tech and science sites like ars and the like... he knows just how damaging his statements can be and WTF does he hope to accomplish with them?


" hey folks ubuntu is spyware so use windows or os x instead ... "

that's he ubuntu audience people who want to switch over from their proprietary os and need a easy to use linux distro.

So he managed to damage the cause he so eagerly claims to defend.

If you aren't willing to compromise then you can't really use the internet... hey you think that ad up there in the right corner is not keeping a cookie and tracking you? many times I see ads in my own native language so zOMGS they have access to my IP OMGOMGOMG phoronix is spyware...

:/

THEY HAVE A BIG SHINY BUTTON RIGHT ON THE SYSTEM CONTROL PANEL CALLED 'PRIVACY' IT TAKES 5 SECS TO CLICK IT AND SHUT IT OFF.

http://youtu.be/_g3sLYNmqtM?t=42s

http://youtu.be/_g3sLYNmqtM?t=42s

of all the things I found to complain about ubuntu 13.04 THIS BARELY REGISTERS.

you can blame canonical for this as much as you can blame phoronix for showing ads so the mere fact you are posting here makes you an hypocrite

thus spake pallidus

[Awesomeness]

11 pages of rants and stupidity....

this thread needs to close and this will be the last post

Finally the main troll shuts up. Yay!

[peperoni]

Well, I'm going admit that Ubuntu is spyware so in order to change to a non evil OS lets choose another:
- Fedora. It packs Mozilla, Chrome, Chromium, and others, and of course them all use Google search, which tracks user behaviours, preferences, etc. Ooops, Fedora is SPYWARE (even though they don't sell user information they are the catalyst to make it hapen, sorry raw reality is tought).
- Red Hat. Same as Fedora. Redhat is SPYWARE.
- Debian. Ooooops. Same as Fedora. Debian is SPYWARE.
- Ubuntu. Of course!!! SPYWARE.
- Puppy Linux. Dawn it! It bundles a web browser! SPYWARE.
- openSUSE. Arrgr!!! It bundles Google searched web browsers!!!! SPYWARE.
- Mint, Mageia, Arch, Lubuntu, Xubuntu, Snow Linux, Sabayon and ALL Distrowatch distros, ALL of them bundle Google searched web browsers. So all of them are SPYWARE WITHOUT EXCEPTION.
- Now, the only rational explication is that Linux is evil, so we MUST move from Linux.

- Windows. No, Windows is evil!!!
- OS X. The same. Evil, evil, evil!!!

- Ufff, now.... I'm rummaging into my desk drawer and YES!!! I've done it!!! A copy of FreeDOS!!!
- I install FreeDOS and..... oops!!! Where are the apps? And Facebook? And the office application suit?

What a paranoia!!!

Now, seriously. If you are going to blame any Linux distro because any other person tells you it's evil, stop a minute and think.
Even to access to the FSF web page you use a Web browser and them all without exception track people's toughts, preferences, behabiours, etc!
And yes Ubuntu is spyware, not only because they agreed with Amazon to incorporate Amazon search in their pannels, but because they bundle the most advanced piece of software to track user movements: The Web Browser.
Maybe behind all this FUD, real interests are involved. Maybe Stallman is not coherent. Maybe he is getting something of all of this.

[pingufunkybeat]

Even to access to the FSF web page you use a Web browser and them all without exception track people's toughts, preferences, behabiours, etc!

No. Just no. Hell no.

Most web browsers (the open source ones, anyway) do not track you. The webpages you visit do. You can choose to avoid them.

[Cthulhux]

- Now, the only rational explication is that Linux is evil, so we MUST move from Linux.

Use FreeBSD then. Like all we smart people do.

[ArchLinux]

You haven't answered my question, and instead you choose to bash a project that is completely unrelated to this whole discussion. But luckily, morons like you have zero influence in projects like nouveau, and nouveau is here to stay, so fuck off.

So you earlier sort of still want me to answer your question but in the end you tell me not to because you want me to "fuck off". We'll I guess I'm gonna have to take the lead and decide for you, which I take it probably even you managed to understand already (and by the way, Nouveau, it's _not_ unrelated but then again, you wouldn't understand that, now would you)?

So here, let us start before the vast amount of information received blocks the passages to your brain once again, after which you are unable to receive any at all.

So, the fact that searches in Nautilus or whatever send some optional strings to Amazon to display ads for you is the most ridiculous reason I've ever heard to actually stop using or recommending the whole distribution.

Ubuntu is free. It doesn't cost you sh*t. Unity is free. It costs you f*cking nothing. I don't like either (piece of software, if that wasn't clear) but the fact that they've decided to get some revenue through ads or arrangements with other companies is _perfectly_ fine. They deserve the money they've put into the project they still haven't retrieved (or Shuttleworth hasn't, I'm not sure about the whole executive setup there).

I'm not arguing about his definition of "spyware". What Ubuntu does is clearly spying but it's like the least severe type there is (but I guess you didn't read past the title anyway). It's not even a keylogger. If they logged users browsing strings too (etc. passwords and credit card numbers) then it'd definitely be something he'd have to worry about. But you see, it's not.

And about Nouveau, the reason I brought it up is because it seems to affect every opinion you have. Yes, the project is quite nice but I'm not planning to put it on my system any time soon. The fact that we have people like you advocating it is great but the fact that you go so _far_ as to say things like "fuck nvidia and their shitty driver" is not so. In fact, it suddenly means nobody listens to you anymore. Or they do but don't take you seriously. You decide which one you settle with. I don't know of a single thing where Nouveau would actually have gained to Nvidia so much that it would be even better. KMS maybe but everything else? Power management, stability (crashes, lockups) and most of all, performance? Nvidia has these issues as well (everyone does) but in a much smaller scale. That's why we use it. You don't. No one gives a shit.

So you prove you have zero creativity in even choosing a name for you, that just gives me the impression that you are a clueless brainless sheep. I guess that's why you weren't able to answer my question properly.

Yes. My heart is bleeding. You stabbed it and took it away!

Ok, enough. First off, I wasn't talking to you but I can understand your deep troubles in reading the name in the quote box. Some of us just can't do it. Secondly, the "zero creativity" thing you came up with (which made me laugh, by the way) is just ridiculous because what you're actually saying there is that if a person can't come up with a decent name on his own it suddenly means he's somehow "a clueless sheep". So looking back at the nickname you just gave me maybe sounds just a tad bit ironic. And thirdly, you could've just read the actual blog post to satisfy your curiosity, if it was that important. Or maybe you did, which means you're an idiot.

But hey, that's just me. I have my opinions and you have your own. You've certainly unleashed the stupidest ones into the wild. Or maybe you disagree. I'm just suggesting that you won't.

Use FreeBSD then. Like all we smart people do.

There is nothing interesting in your little FreeBSD that just about anybody would prefer to actually replace the OS the person has as it is. Cry about it all you like but the fact that the reasons you guys give for the advantages of BSD are just so ridiculous that they're not even funny. It should probably kind of tip you off.

[Awesomeness]

And yes Ubuntu is spyware, not only because they agreed with Amazon to incorporate Amazon search in their pannels, but because they bundle the most advanced piece of software to track user movements: The Web Browser.

You're confused. When one opens the web browser, he/she knows that one is online.
Ubuntu is spyware because nobody tells the user beforehand that perceived offline searches are in fact transmitted online.

That said, it would be nice when distributors bundled Ghostery, a privacy Firefox extension.

[droidhacker]

As much as I dislike ubuntu (and amazon search is only PART of the reason why), stallman is obviously not taking his meds.