[berlinbrown]

I am pissed off. I am a life long linux user and Ubuntu has done great work.

I am really starting to see Ubuntu used for the desktop in various companies.

But nobody gives a shit enough to invest in their technologies. I think edge is a great idea. I will buy (once the phone is available). That is my contribution.

[rogerbinns]

Not everyone thinks Canonical is that virtuous or inspiring. Note that they can do whatever they want, but that doesn't mean the rest of us support them. Some examples.

They have a contributor license agreement, which is unpleasant enough on its own, but it also allows them to take code proprietary. Note that contributors can't take Canonical's code proprietary, so this is an unequal relationship.

They don't have an instinct for free (as in freedom). eg they kept launchpad proprietary for years, landscape still is, ubuntu one server is etc. ie the vibe that comes across is that company advantage takes first priority, and freedom second. In some places this has helped - eg shipping access to proprietary drivers has meant that Ubuntu just works for more users.

While design by the public would never work, it is possible to be more inclusive such as letting anyone subscribe to mailing lists even if everyone can't post.

The Amazon issue and others in the past (eg media player affiliate) was another symptom of Canonical first, everyone else second. Canonical essentially took all the money raised, rather than acting as a clearing house and only taking a finder's fee.

The problem with current cell phones is problems with openness. Unless you have open drivers for all of it, you are the mercy of other providers and it isn't really your phone. Mark Shuttleworth in Reddit AMA "So in this first generation Edge, no, we didn't look for open hardware specifically".

Ubuntu is not Linux, and don't mistake their agenda.

[synchronise]

A contributor license agreement is commonplace in several projects including those that are open source. To find an issue with Canonical's use of one would also imply that you take issue with other organisations using the same agreements, such as Owncloud, Diaspora, the Apache Foundation and even the Free Software Foundation.

Secondly, the consumer would rather software with stability and functionality rather than visible source code. The prevalence of users using binary drivers on Linux demonstrates that. Users seeking a completely FOSS experience are free to use those distros that offer that, however the overall experience will be worse than those which allow the easy installation of binary drivers.

And just because you say Ubuntu isn't GNU/Linux, by definition you are wrong as they fulfil all the requirements of a GNU/Linux distribution.

The amount of misinformation and bias in your post is actually quite intriguing.

[rogerbinns]

LWN covered contributor license agreements several times. The FSF at least says the code will always remain free software.

http://lwn.net/Articles/529522/

> Secondly, the consumer would rather software with stability and functionality rather than visible source code

Err, you are agreeing with one of my points. However this is not good for consumers in the long term since they will be restricted by whatever the producers of binary blobs and closed drivers decide to do. For example if the vendor decides not to support particular architectures, or update with kernel changes then tough luck.

> And just because you say Ubuntu isn't GNU/Linux

I was responding to the OP equating Ubuntu with Linux - ie supporting the Edge is supporting Linux. If for example Canonical said they would make sure the hardware was open/free, or at the very least that any rights Canonical negotiates for binary blobs and drivers would apply equally to the whole Linux community then that would be a good start. Heck many argue that binary blobs are drivers are violations of the GPL.

> The amount of misinformation

I would love to correct factual errors. What are they?

> .. bias in your post ..

I was responding to OPs claims that supporting the Edge is supporting Linux, and implied that we all should do so. Supporting the Edge is supporting Canonical and only indirectly Linux. The reasons I gave are why I don't support Edge, and implicitly what Canonical could do to get my support. Everyone is free to make their own mind up, and hopefully I've provided some reasons from the dissenters.

[neilxdsouza]

In case Ubuntu folks are reading this.

I am from India, working on our startup - our running costs are USD 500 per month, thats what we are running on. If I was in a regular job, I would surely contribute to your campaign, but I cant afford it.

If I want to download Ubuntu Desktop, you are asking for donations, which I would love to give, but are taking payments through Paypal. You need to setup a payment gateway here in India - use the same systems we use to top up our mobile phones, so we can contribute to you, instead of going through Paypal (because I am not credit worthy, and there are govt rules too).

We might not be able to make big donations, but India has 1 billion people, and I am sure, India has quite a few Ubuntu users, and I am definitely a Happy one.

[fedvasu]

yeah,me too! I would gladly donate 0.5K to 1K rupees!(if it was as easy as paying for pizza)

[primelens]

I'd love to see this happen as well. India has a vibrant Linux community.

[InAnEmergency]

Unless I misunderstood the Edge campaign, you can ONLY get it by contributing to the campaign. It won't be available for purchase.

[ihsw]

Canonical has put its users over the barrel and let Amazon have their way with them, that's enough to stop me from giving one red cent.

Privacy is a serious question for businesses, and "you can opt out" isn't a serious answer.

[rlpb]

Privacy is not an issue with Unity's shopping lens, since Amazon cannot identify you apart from anyone else. If you don't want your search queries to leave your computer at all, then don't use a global search box (just like you don't type those queries into Google, either).

"We are not telling Amazon what you are searching for. Your anonymity is preserved because we handle the query on your behalf." --Mark Shuttleworth, http://www.markshuttleworth.com/archives/1182

[ihsw]

Once again, "you can opt out" isn't a serious answer. It's a matter of policy to anonymize the data, and Canonical changes policies unilaterally. The feature isn't under the control of users at all, and that is why it's dangerous.

Canonical has made it abundantly clear that their users have no voice in the development of Ubuntu, in fact they've been quite hostile when confronted with their secretive and authoritarian development practices.

[kryptiskt]

Didn't it download the thumbnails directly from Amazon?

[27182818284]

>"Canonical has put its users over the barrel"

This seems undeservingly harsh. They have an opt-out system and that's "over the barrel"? If so, then if they were to hypothetically sell a users' list of most popular apps they ran or something like that, what would they be doing to the user and how would the barrel be used?

>Privacy is a serious question for businesses, and "you can opt out" isn't a serious answer. It is a serious question for everyone and you provided no explanation other than your opinion as to why "you can opt out" isn't a "serious answer"

[fedvasu]

yeah, it is understandable to be annoyed when a good idea (even from a decent open-source company)doesn't get enough financial backing when shitty ideas and products get funding from left and right.

[berlinbrown]

You are right, buy/contribute.

[mateuszf]

Not sure if this is a good scenario for you, but I guess that there would be some people willing to pay via Bitcoin.