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Canonical Begins Tracking Ubuntu Installations
suraj.sun passes along this excerpt from Phoronix:
"Just uploaded to the Ubuntu Lucid repository for Ubuntu 10.04 LTS (and we imagine it will appear shortly in Maverick too for Ubuntu 10.10) is a new package called canonical-census, which marks its initial release. Curious about what this package provides, we did some digging and found it's for tracking Ubuntu installations by sending an 'I am alive' ping to Canonical on a daily basis. When the canonical-census package is installed, the program is to be added to the daily Cron jobs to be executed so that each day it will report to Canonical over HTTP the number of times this system previously sent to Canonical (this counter is stored locally and with it running on a daily basis it's thereby indicating how many days the Ubuntu installation has been active), the Ubuntu distributor channel, the product name as acquired by the system's DMI information, and which Ubuntu release is being used. That's all that canonical-census does, at least for now. Previously there haven't been such Ubuntu tracking measures attempted by Canonical."
The Ubuntu flavor dedicated to Barack Obama: teleprompter support, the user interface goes grey after about 2 years being installed, and it blames George Bush for all it's problems
this is such a double standard, if microsoft did this it would be the biggest uproar ever...
portfolio
MARK SHUTTLEWORTH AND CANONICAL ANNOUNCE LINUX FOR NIGGERS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
ISLE OF MAN - June 1, 2006 - At a press conference today, Canonical CEO and Free Software spokesnigger Mark Shuttleworth announced the immediate availability of version 6.06 of the Ubuntu Linux distribution. The latest version, known by its code name, "The Diaper Drake," includes special features designed to make Linux easier and more comfortable for niggers the world over.
"Niggers have always had trouble understanding new technology," Shuttleworth began. "Computers are no exception. Some people have said this is because niggers are dumb, but I believe the real problem is that technology has traditionally been designed for white people. Ubuntu changes all that. It was developed from the ground up with niggers in mind. It will usher in a whole new era of Afro-ergonomic computing."
Shuttleworth presented an overview of some of the features users could expect in the latest version of Ubuntu, including an Ebonics-to-English converter, African "tribal beats" sound and desktop theme, and a collection of rap music and gay pornography, "which of course will be encoded using patent and royalty-free formats," Shuttleworth added, smiling. He proceeded to elaborate, but OpenOffice.org Impress crashed at that point.
"But this release isn't just about new features," Shuttleworth said, making a quick segue to the humanitarian and ideological concept behind Ubuntu. "This new version brings black men closer together than ever in the spirit of Ubuntu." Shuttleworth then demonstrated the concept of Ubuntu by getting on his knees and sucking a young black boy's erect penis.
About Canonical
Canonical Ltd. is committed to the development,distribution and promotion of open source software products, and to providing tools and support to the open source community. Canonical is a global organization headquartered in the Isle of Man, with employees throughout Europe, North America, South America and Australia. Canonical is a technology partner of the Gay Nigger Association of America, of which it holds a 36% equity stake.
About GNAA:
GNAA (GAY NIGGER ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA) is the first organization which gathers GAY NIGGERS from all over America and abroad for one common goal - being GAY NIGGERS.
Are you GAY ?
Are you a NIGGER ?
Are you a GAY NIGGER ?
If you answered "Yes" to all of the above questions, then GNAA (GAY NIGGER ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA) might be exactly what you've been looking for!
Join GNAA (GAY NIGGER ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA) today, and enjoy all the benefits of being a full-time GNAA member.
GNAA (GAY NIGGER ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA) is the fastest-growing GAY NIGGER community with THOUSANDS of members all over United States of America and the World! You, too, can be a part of GNAA if you join today!
Why not? It's quick and easy - only 3 simple steps!
Talk to one of the ops or any of the other members in the channel to sign up today! Upon submitting your application, you
From each according to his coding ability (Western programmers)
To each according to his wants (China downloads and builds on top of Linux, without committing any patches; the fucking niggers)
it sloed down my computar so I failed at a frosy piss!
eat it bloggers!
It's a bloody good idea that this nigger OS is starting to track it's nigger users. We fucking need these niggers tracked so that they can be locked up and shot.
Prepare for a hot load of severe disappointment!
Turning to a Linux advocate for thoughts on Microsoft is like asking Hitler how he felt about the Jews.
muahahahahaha
It seems like any kind of Windows and Apple usage statistics you see these days are just a load of hot air. Hopefully this will provide some solid data and hopefully Canonical will make it public.
I for one will happily enable it.
Fixed that for you.
Microsoft already does this, and has for a number of years and they still haven't been fined by anyone for the practice. They just don't TELL you they're doing this. I prefer the honesty and the simple goal from Canonical.
It's open source. If you have any questions about just what it does, you can find out for yourself.
No offence, but that is not what I would consider "easy". It should be possible to find that information directly in the GUI, and the package should be simple to disable. Possibly by adding a privacy tab somewhere?
The truth may be out there, but lies are inside your head
They won't do that when they find out there are only 8 Linux users. How can 8 people add 2 to 3 million new accounts?