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Stallman: Ubuntu Spyware: What to Do?Stallman: Ubuntu Spyware: What to Do?Posted Dec 13, 2012 2:54 UTC (Thu) by drdabbles (subscriber, #48755)Parent article: Stallman: Ubuntu Spyware: What to Do?
Having the opt-in vs. opt-out discussion is worth while. But calling this feature "spyware" is total FUD and only serves to alienate the hard-line Free software proponents from the rest of Free software society. To be frank, I stopped listening to anything Stallman had to say a long time ago. because to RMS and people in his camp, this is a religious issue.
To those of us living in 2012, though, there's a real discussion to be had. I thoroughly enjoy, though rarely use, the Amazon Unity lens. I would find a Google lens significantly more useful, in fact. Because hitting the menu key, and typing in a Google query would save me from opening a browser, clicking CTRL+K, and doing the same basic thing. The utility of offering me music, books, and merchandise when I type something into my search bar is extremely useful.
Now, as to the "spyware" claim...that's total BS. The term you've typed in your Unity bar is sent to Canonical and then to Amazon. I would like to know what the difference is between that, and simply searching Amazon? Because either way, I have an IP address to tie your search back to. But, since we live in a world where it takes some work to discern if there are multiple devices behind a single public IP, or who is actually behind a public IP, the utility of the "spy" data is of serious question here. Great, so Canonical knows you searched for "term..." several times a day. Or, heaven forbid, they know you searched for "Kanye West" while looking for an admittedly poor musical choice. This is data that Amazon already collects. As well as Google, and whomever else may be selling you musical tracks or providing search functionality.
The fact that the feature is on by default is probably due to the fact that Ubuntu tries to accommodate the "average" computer user. This user is not like the "average" LWN subscriber. They find a serious utility in making things easier to access, and they put serious stock in the idea that the entire Internet isn't so far away from them. Yes, to you and I, we know that a browser window is almost certainly open somewhere, and we can go directly to the source of our content and search. But my mom has literally no idea what the difference between a browser window and her desktop area is. And Ubuntu has made serious strides in getting people like my mom onto a far superior platform than Windows.
If you don't like it, disable the lens. If you do like it, keep it enabled. If you believe strongly that after a user's first login they should be prompted to enable things like the Amazon lens, then suggest that to the Ubuntu developers.
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Stallman: Ubuntu Spyware: What to Do? Posted Dec 13, 2012 16:26 UTC (Thu) by raven667 (subscriber, #5198) [Link]
> Having the opt-in vs. opt-out discussion is worth while.
Agreed. It might be best if it was opt-in and/or continued integration with the music/video or other lenses which are more explicitly about network searches.
> I stopped listening to anything Stallman had to say a long time ago
I think that's unfortunate, what he actually says, instead of whatever crazy crackpot notions are often mis-attributed to him by poorly-informed commenters on the Internet, usually makes real sense.
> I would find a Google lens significantly more useful
Yeah an explicit network search that covers search engines, amazon, etc. might be cool
> I would like to know what the difference is between that, and simply searching Amazon?
Canonical explicitly proxies and traffic to anonymize it due to privacy issues. You are only exposed to Amazon if you navigate to it, which would link your search to your identity. Searches for "Terminal" are probably not that interesting, searches for private medical or financial data stored on your machine. Many people are very private when it comes to medical and financial data, you shouldn't have to be constantly on-guard when using your own machine to not leak this data, by searching for key words in it, to third parties.
> The fact that the feature is on by default is probably due to the fact that Ubuntu tries to accommodate the "average" computer user.
That's the rub, since it's not opt-in there is a greater chance of unintended disclosure , especially from the "average" user crowd who is unlikely to poke around in the settings and disable the feature unless they are highly motivated and well informed. Privacy shouldn't be a luxury only extended to those who fight for it, privacy should be the default.
Of course, considering how much data is collected by (marketing) intelligence firms these days just based on your ambient network footprint, this is like throwing a grain of sand to block a raging river, but it's probably the right thing to do in any event. I guess Stallman is Ned Stark 8-)
Stallman: Ubuntu Spyware: What to Do? Posted Dec 13, 2012 17:32 UTC (Thu) by drdabbles (subscriber, #48755) [Link]
I understand what you're saying completely. But my counter point would be, "How many people store documents with names like 'Embezzled money from the Cayman Islands.xls'"? Or, for that matter, "Super embarrassing or identifying medical diagnosis.pdf"?
The content of these documents and files is not being leaked. The term someone is searching for documents with might be. So, I may search for "2012 Taxes.pdf" (which is a real document title on my personal laptop) exposes nothing except the fact that I have filed tax forms. It exposes no more data than "2012 Disability forms.pdf".
To the point that I've stopped listening to RMS, it's not because of rabid anti-RMS Internet trolls. I used to read his rants and raves first hand. And while I agree with the philosophy that Information should be free, I also find room for things like copyright (when exercised in sane measures). I firmly believe there is more than enough room in the world for GPLvX, BSD, MIT, CDDL licenses, as well as any other license type. I choose GPLv2 most of the time, because that's where I stand. But my employer may not always choose GPL because there are things we write that give us advantage over competitors. And I'm a capitalist-ish. :)
RMS' statements started slipping from "Freedom for all" to "Conspiracy against freedom" a long time ago, and I just don't have the time or desire to get wrapped up in that nonsense. I respect what he does, but he methods and ideology need to catch up to the times.
Stallman: Ubuntu Spyware: What to Do? Posted Dec 13, 2012 19:24 UTC (Thu) by mathstuf (subscriber, #69389) [Link]
> I understand what you're saying completely. But my counter point would be, "How many people store documents with names like 'Embezzled money from the Cayman Islands.xls'"? Or, for that matter, "Super embarrassing or identifying medical diagnosis.pdf"?
And you can guarantee that users will never want to search based on a document's contents?
> I also find room for things like copyright (when exercised in sane measures).
He does as well (after all, the GPL doesn't work without it). He has mentioned that 5 year limits are acceptable[1].
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