Stallman On Unity Dash: Canonical Will Have To Give Users' Data To Governments

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Stallman On Unity Dash: Canonical Will Have To Give Users' Data To Governments

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday October 13, 2012 @05:40AM from the sounds-like-something-he'd-say dept.

Giorgio Maone writes "Ubuntu developer and fellow Mozillian Benjamin Kerensa chatted with various people about the new Amazon Product Results in the Ubuntu 12.10 Unity Dash. Among them, Richard Stallman told him that this feature is bad because: 1. 'If Canonical gets this data, it will be forced to hand it over to various governments.'; 2. Amazon is bad. Concerned people can disable remote data retrieval for any lens and scopes or, more surgically, use sudo apt-get remove unity-lens-shopping."

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sad but true by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-13 05:44 · Score: 5, Insightful

if a company collects any data on you it's inevitable the government will try and take it.
1. Re:sad but true by aaron552 · 2012-10-13 05:48 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  If anyone collects data on you it's inevitable the government will try and take it
  Fixed
  
  --
  I had a sig once. It was lost in the great storm of '09.
2. Re:sad but true by Lumpy · 2012-10-13 06:29 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  They dont have to take it. It's available for dirt cheap at LexisNexis. I can buy enough data on you to freak you out. All I need is a name and an address and I can get your social Security number and pretty much everything else.
  This is what most nutjobs don't understand. Stop worrying about the government, because corporations are already harvesting you and selling it to the government at a deep discount.
  
  --
  Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
3. Re:sad but true by Beardo+the+Bearded · 2012-10-13 06:36 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  That's why it's more important to give them false information 25% of the time than it is to worry about who or what is tracking you.
  Poison the well.
  
  --
  
  ---
  ECHELON is a government program to find words like bomb, jihad, plutonium, assassinate, and anarchy.
4. Re:sad but true by fredprado · 2012-10-13 14:11 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  He may have a lot of radical opinions, but none of them is based on madness as you suggest. You may disagree with many of his opinions, but you cant deny that he accurately predicted 20 years ago a lot of the problems we are facing nowadays with the government and corporation increasingly pressing for control and using new technologies against privacy.
Don't use Ubuntu by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-13 05:50 · Score: 3, Insightful

Even if you can uninstall this feature, by merely using Ubuntu you're implicitly supporting them, and their intentions obviously aren't very nice if they're doing it. Use a different distro, there are also many other issues with Ubuntu to keep using it anyway.
1. Re:Don't use Ubuntu by mumblestheclown · 2012-10-13 05:53 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump off. So I ran over and said, "Stop! Don't do it!" "Why shouldn't I?" he said. I said, "Well, there's so much to live for!" He said, "Like what?" I said, "Well, are you religious or atheist?" He said, "Religious." I said, "Me too! Are your Christian or Buddhist?" He said, "Christian." I said, "Me too! Are you Catholic or Protestant?" He said, "Protestant." I said, Me too! Are your Episcopalian or Baptist? He said, "Baptist!" I said, "Wow! Me too! Are your Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord? He said, Baptist Church of God!" I said, "Me too! Are your Original Baptist Church of God or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?" He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of God!" I said, "Me too! Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?" He said, "Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915!" I said, "Die, heretic scum!" and pushed him off.
  Welcome to the world of Linux distributions. Who can figure out the mystery of the sub 2 percent combined desktop market share?
2. Re:Don't use Ubuntu by Qwavel · 2012-10-13 06:04 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  "their intentions obviously aren't very nice if they're doing it"
  Based on what we know of them so far, I'd say that they are just trying to figure out a way to make some money, not be evil.
  Personally, I hope they are successful in making money, and if there users feel that this latest initiative is the wrong approach then I hope they will respond in a constructive manner and not abandon Ubuntu.
3. Re:Don't use Ubuntu by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-13 06:20 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Sanest thing I've heard all week. Thank you.
Pretty much always the case with online services by Fastolfe · 2012-10-13 05:54 · Score: 3, Insightful

This shouldn't be surprising. If someone is in a position to collect data, and they do so, governments can get that data. Pretty much everyone collects data when you interact with their services. To paraphrase Eric Schmidt, If you don't want anyone to know what you're doing online, don't do things online.
sudo apt-get install shred by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-13 05:55 · Score: 3, Insightful

Then install debian.
1. Re:sudo apt-get install shred by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-13 07:11 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  I believe the FSF uses Debian as well. Debian is 'libre' by default even the kernel nowadays. Stallman won't recommend it because it has non-free repos. But they're disabled by default. Debian is perfectly fine if you don't enable those repositories.
2. Re:sudo apt-get install shred by Nerdfest · 2012-10-13 08:49 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Server computing, development frameworks, etc, are getting more open. Personal computing is getting more closed. iOS, and now the Windows 8 store for me are a very big push against all the progress that has been made. I'm quite old ... I remember the IBM days and I remember AOL ... both very restricted. I have a feeling most people don't remember those and are taking the freedom they have (or had) for granted.
Re:Pretty much always the case with online service by Captain+Hook · 2012-10-13 06:00 · Score: 5, Insightful

If you don't want anyone to know what you're doing online, don't do things online.
Some how I think you've missed the point.

--
These comments are my personal opinions and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the other voices in my head.
Mission Creep by Stormy+Dragon · 2012-10-13 06:16 · Score: 3, Insightful

Amazon was a member of ALEC. ALEC is the right-wing lobbying group that promotes voter-suppression laws and "shoot first" laws, as well as attacks against wages and working conditions in the US. Amazon quit ALEC after public pressure in May 2012, but I am sure it still seeks the same nasty policies that ALEC advocated and is waiting for a new tool to achieve them.
Even if we accept Stallman's rather innacurate description of ALEC's activities, neither campaign finance, gun rights, or minimum wage laws have anything to do with the free software movement. Stallman's belief to the contrary, Linux is not his personal political hobby horse.
1. Re:Mission Creep by leromarinvit · 2012-10-13 06:36 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  So Stallman isn't entitled to have an opinion on these subjects? Or is he just not allowed to voice it, whether asked or not? This is his personal website you're talking about.
  Tell me, what qualifies you to say that campaign finance, gun rights, and minimum wage laws are none of Stallman's business?
  
  --
  Proud member of the Ferengi Socialist Party.
Alienating your user base by ntropia · 2012-10-13 06:19 · Score: 5, Insightful

Putting aside any judgements for a moment, one could try to see the desire of Shuttleworth to push Linux in the mainstream, and this could be good... somehow.
But then, from Shuttleworth's words:

"It makes perfect sense to integrate Amazon search results in the Dash, because the Home Lens of the Dash should let you find *anything* anywhere"
Seriously? it should "let me find"? You put tons of advertises in user's computers *and* tons of user's data on Amazon servers and you didn't provide it as opt-in feature? And I can't even disable it [until a rushed update came out]?
Good job! You're alienating the most important thing you gained so far, your users. You know, not only it is important to bring Ubuntu in the mainstream: you need to be sure you don't get there alone, you know?

It seems another case of "shut up, we know better than users what users really want".
Do you?
Re:So tell me... by couchslug · 2012-10-13 06:50 · Score: 3, Insightful

"He's a dirty fucking hippy." who is usually proven correct, and who doesn't prefer comfortable slavery to freedom.
I don't care if he smells like a burning landfill, he's done more for freedom than either of us ever will.

--
"This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
Ethics should apply in your life by betterunixthanunix · 2012-10-13 08:55 · Score: 5, Insightful

Stallman lives by a particular ethical code. Despite the widespread belief that people should separate their ethical beliefs from their work, Stallman does not actually do so, and thus if he believes that Amazon is doing unethical things (which is not really a stretch), he is not going to support the idea of taking his software (which is part of the basis of Ubuntu) and using it to support Amazon financially. I do not see why he should be criticized for that, any more than people should be criticized for refusing to seek employment with companies whose behavior they object to.

--
Palm trees and 8
Re:Torvalds as a FOSS spokesmun by Anonymous Coward · 2012-10-13 19:20 · Score: 2, Insightful

Posting anonymously so as to not have my modding activity zapped.... Our industry had/has lots of "eccentric" individuals, some of whom have contributed the most.
I'm not the biggest fan of RMS either, but I'm always prepared to listen to what he has to say. Criticize him for his opinion and words, not his appearance or occasional odd behaviour.
/andrewa