Ubuntu Removes the Amazon Web App

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2020/01/ubuntu-removes-the-amazon-web-app

by ashitlerferad • 6 years ago

241 99 6 years ago

omgubuntu.co.uk

While I get my torch lit, what's going on exactly?

gtirloni• 6 years ago

First introduced in Ubuntu 12.10, the Amazon web launcher gives Ubuntu users an easy, out-of-the-box shortcut to the Amazon website.

[...]

Ubuntu 20.04 ‘Focal Fossa’ will not include the Amazon web launcher, and neither will the next Ubuntu 18.04 LTS point release.

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2020/01/ubuntu-removes-the-amazo...

mFixman• 6 years ago

They might have changed it in the last 8 years, but one of the worst things about this change is that the referrer requests were made in HTTP. Anyone sniffing your connection could find out what you were writing on the Ubuntu spotlight.

Zhyl• 6 years ago

Clarification to all: "drops" in this context means "gets rid of" rather than "releases".

Ubuntu is getting rid of affiliate links which it originally introduced to generate revenue, but have proved controversial and by the sounds of it unfruitful.

Ubuntu has also previously included Amazon search results in its start menu search (known as 'lenses' or the 'HUD') which were also controversial, but these were removed when Ubuntu switched to shipping the Gnome desktop by default.

machinecoffee• 6 years ago

Which then raises the question, how does - if at all - Ubuntu make money for Canonical?

whalesalad• 6 years ago

Good riddance

finchisko• 6 years ago

wont be missed

mszcz• 6 years ago

Hear, hear!

mPReDiToR• 6 years ago

Eventually they drop the crapware foisted on us that we complained about when they put it in.

Why won't they listen to us?

Blaiz0r• 6 years ago

Because money

burundi_coffee• 6 years ago

It'$ a my$tery, no one know$

Snetry• 6 years ago

It'$ a my$tery we might never $olve

akerl_3• 6 years ago

How does this action differ from “listening to us”? It looks like they’re removing the app.

umanwizard• 6 years ago

Years later

aloknnikhil• 6 years ago

The first thing I did after install was to remove all the launcher shortcuts except for Firefox. This'll make it easier on new installs for me (and perhaps most of us).

fctorial• 6 years ago

I don't understand the rage. It's a shortcut that opens amazon.com in a browser. It queries location, for opening the local amazon site, but that could be avoided by disabling geoclue.

Maakuth2• 6 years ago

The default was to submit all Unity launcher searches to Amazon to populate the desktop search with items sold in Amazon.

m45t3r• 6 years ago

This was the shortcut to Amazon website, not the search lens that already died in the transition from Unity to Gnome.

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2020/01/ubuntu-removes-the-amazo...

djsumdog2• 6 years ago

Yeah, it was originally very Windows 10

bayindirh3• 6 years ago

Because it hints presence of a bigger iceberg beneath that harmless looking tip.

jacquesm3• 6 years ago

The whole reason people use Ubuntu and other free OS's is because they don't come with a bunch of commercial crap & telemetry and whatever other vendors foist on their captive audience. Going down that route is completely against what FOSS should stand for.

akerl_3• 6 years ago

Sample size one, but that’s not why I use Linux and similar operating systems. I feel like this is probably a decently popular reason, but I’d be hesitant to suggest it’s the “whole reason”.

bayindirh3• 6 years ago

I personally don't use Ubuntu if there's another choice (e.g. Debian) because of this very reason. Amazon app and whatnot in desktop editions and Landscape advertisements and other small web-connected push in server editions just drive me away from Ubuntu.

If I feel too lazy to install Debian, I install Ubuntu in a VM to try something for short term then either migrate to Debian or delete the VM, that's it.

simion3145• 6 years ago

& telemetry

Telemetry and crash reports can be done right so you should not hate the concept but the bad implementation.

First step is that it should all be optional and it should be disabled by default or have it as an option you are forced to decider if yes or no. You should also be informed when data is sent and what is sent and have the option to deny. Like if app X crashes I send the crash report but if app Y crashes I won't send it.

Also about telemetry if all power users turn it off then you can have situations where developers will drop a feature because they don't use it and there is no data to show that more then 12 people are using it.

gdfasfklshg42• 6 years ago

Also about telemetry if all power users turn it off then you can have situations where developers will drop a feature because they don't use it and there is no data to show that more then 12 people are using it.

Yet another reason not to put telemetry in your software.

gsich2• 6 years ago

Also about telemetry if all power users turn it off then you can have situations where developers will drop a feature because they don't use it and there is no data to show that more then 12 people are using it.

Firefox and the RSS situation. Mozilla did not even think 1 second that this might occur.

oliwarner• 6 years ago

You're saying that as if the point of the software is to support the software, or report good numbers. It's not. The user should be the focus.

Opt-out and hard-coded systems immediately put you no the back foot. You make people question why? and is it worth it? If all you've got it reporting numbers of users, you can go do one. The risk of genuine private data leaking out is not worth your marketing numbers to me.

The Amazon link was much more egregious though. You were sending all Dash searches through to Amazon. This was unacceptable and poorly explained. I'm sure some people liked it, and they honestly could have made the integration a better trade for the user (play videos off Prime Video, etc), but only as an opt-in feature where you can see the ramifications.

usrusr2• 6 years ago

or have it as an option you are forced to decider if yes or no.

Bonus points for an implementation that comes with a few unbiased examples about why one might want to disable and why not.

You are working under draconian legal secrecy requirements or on an exceptionally narrow/expensive uplink? Disable. You worry about secrecy but not enough to go 2FA, you occasionally wish for a bigger pipe to the internet? Disable if you insist, but it would be nice of you to contribute data.

WJW• 6 years ago

Actually my reasons for installing Ubuntu were:

- Better support for the programming tools and languages I use.

- Free (as in, no cost)

Sample size one though, so YMMV. I'm sure there are more than enough distros you can use instead.

scarejunba• 6 years ago

Genuinely not the reason for me. I've used a Linux distro of one sort or another since 2003 and the reason was the power of the environment. Obviously since I (and hundreds of thousands of others) install popcon I've got no problem with telemetry etc. I didn't actually have any problem with them having the Amazon app in there except that it diminished my ability to do useful stuff, i.e. it wasn't a good product.

I'm not sure combined web/app/site-search is useful to me on a desktop. Desktop search is useful on its own. Web search is useful on its own and site search helps with that but combining doesn't help.

And a standalone thing to access Amazon doesn't really have utility to me.

Because I could easily edit the system to not be painful I stuck to Ubuntu.

pjmlp• 6 years ago

Nowadays I use Linux, because that is part of the job, that is all.

Back in the day I used Linux, because I needed UNIX clone at home to do university work, which originally used DG/UX on their servers.

makapuf• 6 years ago

First, maybe there are different reasons. Then, having clearly defined commercial icons, clearly defined and easily uninstallable (as in right click, remove) is clearly acceptable with me. Ubuntu needs to make money, be it with this or Google default search, as long as I can modify preferences, a default is ok. It s a quation of balance. Slippery slope is not a really good excuse either it's acceptable or it's not.

eitland2• 6 years ago

My reasons are actually:

- linux is faster and smoother (for me)

- better support (for the tools I use: git, jdk, dotnet core etc)

- better ux (again, for me. I love KDE but I'm not here to convince anyone to leave their favorite desktop behind.)

I can choose Windows or Mac every time my laptop is up for replacement so cost is not a reason for me.

Also, the IT department at work and with most of our customers has probably put some thought into it and still approved Windows, so I guess it is OK for work.

jacquesm3• 6 years ago

Also, the IT department at work and with most of our customers has probably put some thought into it and still approved Windows, so I guess it is OK for work.

That's more likely a case of not having a choice.

pndy• 6 years ago

telemetry

Ubuntu does include optional telemetry (screen during installation, preference can be later tweaked in privacy settings) since 18.04 and it seems to be less aggressive than in other OSes [1][2]. Not sure about other flavors.

[1] https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/linux/ubuntu-gets-in-t...

[2] https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-devel/2018-February...

ravenstine• 6 years ago

The whole reason people use Ubuntu and other free OS's is because they don't come with a bunch of commercial crap & telemetry

It can be. That isn't often the case. A lot of people just want control over their OS but aren't concerned about whether they're using proprietary software or if their software is phoning home.

djsumdog2• 6 years ago

Have they ever released how much money they earned off those affiliate searchers/clicks?

correct_horse• 6 years ago

I had assumed Amazon was paying for the Amazon "app" in Ubuntu (based on gut feel) but it looks like it might have been part of a Canonical's web-y vision for the Linux desktop future [1]. Does anyone know why the Amazon app existed in the first place?

https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2016/05/what-happened-ubuntu-uni...

g051051• 6 years ago

Ubuntu was also making money via an affiliate tag for all purchases. See https://askubuntu.com/questions/565746/why-does-the-latest-b...

bregma3• 6 years ago

Well hey, I just happened to work on that stuff back when Canonical still had its own desktop product.

The idea was to make a user's experience as great as possible. The desktop design department all lived through their iPhones, and felt that most non-techie computer users wanted the same experience. The whole desktop-phone convergence thing was the prime directive, and having search be the prime experience on desktop for a fully-integrated web experience was the way there. There were many "scopes" plugged in that searched all kinds of things, and among them was one that searched Amazon.

It didn't hurt that Canonical made a bit of income from affiliate referrals. At least until Amazon found out. Then, it just became another web search scope.

monorail0• 6 years ago

So Amazon disabled Canonical's affiliate link when they realized what was going on? How long did it work for?

dehrmann• 6 years ago

Was this around the same time Canonical had phone ambitions?

non-techie computer users

MS made the same bet, but is this really your userbase?

JohnFen9• 6 years ago

The idea was to make a user's experience as great as possible.

Whaa? How does including an Amazon (or any retailer)app make the user's experience "great"? I admit that I'm not the usual user, and therefore may simply not understand, but the inclusion of stuff like that doesn't enhance the experience, it degrades it.

topranks• 6 years ago

I always figured Cannonical made a lot of money for including that.

Can’t believe the most annoying feature was part of the ‘vision.’

vnpc1• 6 years ago

Great. Getting rid of that app was one of the first things I would do on a fresh Ubuntu installation.

gdm85• 6 years ago

I wonder whether they are making room for an Amazon competitor.

Angostura2• 6 years ago

The ambiguous "drop" in this context really annoys me.

werber• 6 years ago

Yeah, i automatically assumed they meant released.

andai• 6 years ago

I think it's more like, when you drop your phone, it lands on its face, and stops being a phone.

JohnFen9• 6 years ago

I totally forgot that "drop" could mean "release". The usage of the word here seemed entirely unambiguous to me.

nimbius• 6 years ago

and nothing of value was lost.

next up: remove the malware from MOTD.

Ubuntu Removes the Amazon Web App

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