Ubuntu pre-installed and in retail worldwide

http://blog.canonical.com/2013/10/01/ubuntu-pre-installed-and-in-retail-worldwide/

by devx • 13 years ago

131 102 13 years ago

blog.canonical.com

Create• 13 years ago

Why are you telling Amazon what I am searching for?

We are not telling Amazon what you are searching for. Your anonymity is preserved because we handle the query on your behalf. Don’t trust us? Erm, we have root. You do trust us with your data already.

http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/1182

Shuttleworth founded Thawte in 1995, which specialised in digital certificates and Internet security and then sold it to VeriSign in December 1999, earning R 3.5 billion (about US$ 575 million at the time).

Verisign was founded in 1995 as a spin-off of the RSA Security certification services business. The new company received licenses to key cryptographic patents held by RSA and a time limited non-compete agreement. The new company served as a certificate authority (CA) and its initial mission was "providing trust for the Internet and Electronic Commerce through our Digital Authentication services and products." Prior to selling its certificate business to Symantec in 2010, Verisign had more than 3,000,000 certificates in operation for everything from military to financial services and retail applications, making it the largest CA behind the encryption and authentication on the Internet, which most people recognize as the small padlock icon in their Web browser when shopping online or logging into a secure website.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_key_infrastructure#Secu...

Luc• 13 years ago

Are we supposed to connect the dots? Because I'm not seeing it...

venomsnake• 13 years ago

Canonical founder has done some business back in the day with company that is two hops away from NSA and now everything he does calls back to the NSA and is part of a giant conspiracy - that is what I think I was suppose to think after reading the post.

dscrd• 13 years ago

"Don’t trust us? Erm, we have root. You do trust us with your data already."

He has a point, you know. You implicitly trust every operating system vendor you are using with everything you do on your computer. Open source makes being evil only more difficult, not impossible.

eksith• 13 years ago

But there is still a marked difference between trusting an executable that only resides on your system vs. one that phones home search results.

It's true, I can't conceivably pour over an entire source library even if it's open, but the fact that it is open means that possibility is open for many more eyes. This puts the executables built from those sources a notch above in trustworthiness. However the search behavior is the big sticking point here.

RMS does a pretty nice breakdown of this source vs. behavior issue : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP8CNp-vksc

frank_boyd6• 13 years ago

Of course it's not in the spirit of freedom, which is at the heart of the open-source movement.

That being said, you have options:

1. You can deactivate the thing with 1 click in the privacy settings, or:

2. You can yank the concerned package itself (you wouldn't have that freedom on closed-source operating systems such as Windows or MacOS/iOS).

Open-source operating systems are still infinitely better than closed-source ones, if you want to be free. Once you'll have regained your various kinds of freedom that come with it, you will never go back to closed source. That is why open-source definitely will win, in the long-run at least.

And:

There's a host of alternatives to Ubuntu, and that means: Mark knows very well that he can never go down the "evil rabbit hole" as much as platforms that lock you in can (Apple, MS) - because open-source is by definition about freedom, it's in its DNA.

Conclusion: should he f#ck up too much one day, users are 100% free to hop to the next distro and Mark would be done - you'll never get a better insurance than that.

hrjet3• 13 years ago

The real worry is not Canonical misusing your data, but third-parties mis-using it. Even if Canoncial makes a mistake and goes down, in the mean time, your private information has been sent to third-parties, by default!

"Third-parties" includes Amazon, disgruntled employees, MITM, intruders, govt agencies, and so on.

hrjet3• 13 years ago

Apart from the Amazon search there are a couple of other services that may be worth investigating and turning off:

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AutomaticConnections

Zigurd3• 13 years ago

It's an annoyance. Canonical made a mistake entering into that deal. It takes more away from the image of Ubuntu as a no-crapware alternative than it gives them in monetization.

It took about 30 seconds to turn that off.

AYBABTME• 13 years ago

Somehow I would think it's also a bad move from Amazon as it hurts the perception of their brand.

I like to think of Amazon as a brand I can trust. Having crapware sponsored by Amazon on my OS hurts that trust.

pcx663• 13 years ago

Several retail outlets in India sell Dell laptops pre-installed with Ubuntu. It is considered equivalent to DOS, in that, choosing an Ubuntu laptop will save you a few thousand rupees compared to the same laptop with Windows (also helps that most such configurations also omit the almost-ubiquitous and mostly un-neccessary NVIDIA graphic cards). Many customers prefer this because they have easy access to pirated Windows copies. Though due to this, several of them get introduced to Ubuntu, and many continue using it. It especially helps having someone you know who is a Linux user and can help with any gotchas. I've helped several friends and cousins who got Ubuntu with their laptops.

For me though, having a pre-installed Ubuntu is a great way to ensure all the parts of the laptop are working properly.

keithpeter3• 13 years ago

Sounds a good idea. Is it 12.04 they come with?

pcx663• 13 years ago

Yes. At the least,all the ones I've seen come with 12.04.

ajasmin• 13 years ago

Do these cheap Ubuntu laptops have a Windows key on the keyboard?

pcx663• 13 years ago

Yes, they do. These laptops are not different from their Windows counter-parts. They were manufactured/assembled with Windows as the target OS, but in a country like India, where financial feasibility is a major factor, providing options with free OS (thus reducing the Windows tax) helps. It was Free DOS for several years, now it's Ubuntu. I think this is one such example, where GNU/Linux being 'free as in free beer', really matters.

enupten• 13 years ago

If only Microsoft understood how undervalued the Rupee is, and made licensed versions of Windows cheaper. The starter edition is just a disgrace.

devx• 13 years ago

I'm actually surprised this hasn't happened in US more. There has to be more to that story than just retailers not wanting Ubuntu on laptops, when they could save their customers at least $100 on the machines. It's also strange that in many other countries retailers would still sell you machines with FreeDOS (to save customers money), but not with Ubuntu or other Linux distros, since FreeDOS is all but useless.

My guess is Microsoft is coercing both OEM's and retailers somehow, and if they really have to sell the machines without Windows, then they want them to at least sell them without a real OS on them, that their customers might actually begin to use as it is.

frank_boyd6• 13 years ago

My guess is Microsoft is coercing both OEM's and retailers somehow

Talk to any of the market insiders, that's exactly what has been happening for decades now.

unsignedint• 13 years ago

And it actually has been "improved" from back than as well. If I remember correctly, Microsoft used to prohibit OEM having lines of computers other than Windows to qualify as OEM.

Eiwatah4• 13 years ago

I think it might be a support thing. They don't want people to return the computer because they couldn't figure out how to do simple task X with the OS on the computer, or because an update broke the proprietary drivers required for some hardware.

Retailers don't have the resources to fix these problems, or to help fixing them. They don't have to if the customer installed their OS of choice themselves.

beagle33• 13 years ago

There's microsoft's pressure on one hand, and the preinstalled crap (for which vendors pay retailers) which moves most of the direct cost away from both retailers and users.

If you buy a laptop from the Microsoft store, you can pay a little more for "signature" which is ... Crap free windows. Directly from Microsoft. For an additional payment. I kid you not.

ZanyProgrammer2• 13 years ago

I think that's standard on all Microsoft store laptops, and from what I've seen, they are constantly on sale, much cheaper than Frys, etc.

qwerta• 13 years ago

OEM gets money from crapware preinstalled on Windows. Also OEM Windows license costs peanuts, so computer without Windows can be actually more expensive.

Raphael• 13 years ago

So the last hurdle to Linux adoption is crapware.

netcan• 13 years ago

When the original Eee came out (and started the concept of netbooks) it was pre-installed with Linux. XP was being discontinued and the Windows tax was a big deal at that pricepoint. Vista was a disaster and couldn't really run well on the Eee's basic specs.

People where bringing the things back.

WalterGR• 13 years ago

Site is down for me. ("Database error - Error establishing a database connection") Google cache:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:hTbf6w3...

brokenparser• 13 years ago

It was running Wordpress on Ubuntu. I wonder why Mark isn't using one of Cloudflare, Varnish or even a simple caching plugin.

ealexhudson• 13 years ago

"High-availability and scalability are exciting in general but there are certain problems that experts see over and over again." - that was the first line in Canonical's highscalability.com advertorial a couple of weeks ago :-)

To be fair, it's a general truism in tech that the cobbler's children never have shoes.

bkerensa2• 13 years ago

Site Optimization 101 :P

dkuntz2• 13 years ago

Because it isn't Mark. It's Canonical...

wyclif• 13 years ago

Amazing, in the 13 hours since this link has been posted, the site is still down.

yapcguy• 13 years ago

The cache is also down

frank_boyd6• 13 years ago

It's UP

bkerensa2• 13 years ago

Funny thing is my blog handled HN front page traffic without hiccup and I'm not developing a server distro or cloud orchestration tool.

ColinWright10• 13 years ago

I still can't get Ubuntu 13.04 to connect reliably via wireless, and while there are posts on forums nearly everywhere I look, there appear to be no definitive answers, or concrete procedures. It's a wide-spread problem, with no clear solution.

I use Ubuntu by choice, but I'm getting tired of doing so much sys admin, and having to learn so much that is necessary just to make stuff work, instead of it letting me just work.

It's a hard problem - I know that - and it's getting better, but it still makes it hard to convince people that Linux is a viable choice when all they want to do is get stuff done.

frank_boyd6• 13 years ago

For those who don't like Ubuntu for whatever reason, Linux never locks you in and being non-commercial, it does not kill competition: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions

ColinWright10• 13 years ago

The doesn't solve my problem. If I had Windows on the machine then I'm pretty sure the wireless would "just work." If I bought a Mac then I'm pretty sure the wireless would "just work."

Having installed Ubuntu, or any other Linux distro, I'm pretty sure the chances of the wireless working are south of 70%, probably closer to 20% or less.

Don't get me wrong, I install and use Linux my choice. I'm getting to the point now where I wonder if I'd be better getting Windows or a Mac, and then bringing it up to the level I need, rather than getting Linux, and flailing about trying to get stuff working.

jasoncwarner2• 13 years ago

Do you have a bug number?

Can you detail the other issues you are having? I am interested in where Ubuntu causes you more sys admin problems and not less. Our goal is to make the easiest to use, best looking system possible.

ColinWright10• 13 years ago

No, I don't have a bug number. Yes, I would be very happy to have this fixed. The question is - how much time and effort will it cost me?

Shall we go through the process of getting this sorted, and I will document carefully the resources I expend on it? Can we take this to email and get it fixed? It's a brand new machine, and I'd love to have it working properly, so any help is gratefully accepted, and I'm happy to play my part in getting it sorted.

tracker1• 13 years ago

It seems like every Ubuntu release has some serious hardware regressions of one type or another.. most can be worked around fairly easily, but others not so much. I went from Ubuntu back to Windows (win7) because of a critical regression with Intel graphics (specifically went non-amd/nvidia for the better support).

Since then Its been on servers and in VMs only. Yesterday the drive on my htpc took a dump, so I put Ubuntu 13.04 on, there were three issues.. 1. getting the audio working through hdmi (alsa regression bug, manual .deb download), 2. getting the fglrx legacy drivers going (amd eol'd series, ppa setup) , and 3. getting the media center remote working (remove/re-setup lirc).

None of these were big issues, but between the three, most novices would have given up. That's just a small case, in a mostly working setup (post-install).

I really want Linux to have a better foothold on the desktop, and don't like Windows 8's UI at all on a desktop (it's actually pretty nice for phone/tablet but prefer Android)... in any case it still isn't quite there, even on 5yo hardware.

hnriot• 13 years ago

Just get a Macbook Pro. You get all the benefits of UNIX and you get a slick easy to use UI.

ekiara• 13 years ago

I was recently trying to compile a list of laptops guaranteed to be free from UEFI Secure Boot (mainly because I've have a friend who bought a second-hand laptop with Win8(I think), with plans to install Debian, but then after about a week struggling, he decided it was next to impossible to install).

Anyway, instead of compiling that list I just decided that in future I'd only buy (or recommend to friends) Chromebooks, machines from System76, or MacAirs/MacPros. Maybe now I should add few HPs/Dells to my whitelist.

Zigurd3• 13 years ago

Are there PCs for which it is impossible to turn Secure Boot off?

The only thing I found difficult with Win 8 and UEFI is to install Linux and retain Windows for dual-booting. After turning off Secure Boot, installing Ubuntu was trouble-free.

machbio• 13 years ago

Just to add a Point about - System76 provides the best ubuntu based laptops which is totally customizable.. If any System76 people are reading this - "Add Keyboard Backlight - People will rush to buy the laptop"

webreac• 13 years ago

It is not easy, but should be possible. Your best friend will be boot repair: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Boot-Repair

After a very long sequence of strange incantations, my laptop was fully ok.

pjmlp• 13 years ago

Asus sells laptops with GNU/Linux over Amazon in Germany.

senthilnayagam• 13 years ago

http://blog.canonical.com is working , possibly coming from cache, but blog article is getting 403, bad cache config or facing cache dogpile effect due to the traffic

Forbidden You don't have permission to access /2013/10/01/ubuntu-pre-installed-and-in-retail-worldwide/ on this server.

hoggle• 13 years ago

For those who don't really need a Mac (no last minute Adobe pixel/vector pushing front-end work nor Mac/iOS dev works needed) where can one find reliable info on 100% Ubuntu/general GNU/Linux distros compatibility?

In short where can I find info about awesome notebooks with 100% Ubuntu compatibility?

thejosh• 13 years ago

Best course of action is to find a notebook without dual video cards (optimus), and go from there.

Find something you like, Google if someone has posted information about the laptop and go from there.

Ubuntu on laptops now adays has pretty damn good compatibility if it's not brand new - but the kernel quickly fixes that if you use a kernel mainline version.

xur17• 13 years ago

Agreed with the dual video cards - my friend has trouble on his laptop, and I am pretty sure that's what causing it. I've been very happy with my HD4000 grapics card. It handles the desktop environment very well, is low power, and has excellent open source drivers. It's probably not amazing for gaming, but I didn't buy it for that.

Patrick_Devine• 13 years ago

I'm not sure this meets all your criteria, but I'm glad Dell is doing it:

http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/xps-13-linux/pd

derekp7• 13 years ago

Here's a list from Lenovo: http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/detail.page?LegacyDocID=MIGR...

Has a bunch of their current and past systems, with which distributions it has been certified on.

aguchi69• 13 years ago

You don't have permission to access /2013/10/01/ubuntu-pre-installed-and-in-retail-worldwide/ on this server. WTF!

linhmtran168• 13 years ago

In my country, the first thing that many people do after buying a laptop with Ubuntu pre-installed is formatting the drive and install a pirated Windows copy.

aroman• 13 years ago

That's one of the most sadly ironic things I've ever read.

yuhong• 13 years ago

I think there is a need for PC manufacturers to have a mechanism for all OS vendors to report BIOS bugs and similar and in turn PC manufacturers would be able to report OS bugs and similar where all of them are treated equally.

wolfeidau• 13 years ago

I really wish that HP, Dell or anyone else would do the same in Australia.

I cannot for the life of me buy a laptop with ubuntu preloaded today.

I look forward to this initiative spreading further :)

caseyf7• 13 years ago

Why can't I buy a Mac mini clone with Ubuntu and drivers preloaded? That's the machine I want but everyone's still selling big rectangular boxes.

Ubuntu pre-installed and in retail worldwide

Related Stories