Ubuntu is Not Truly Focused on Desktops Anymore

Dr. Roy Schestowitz

2013-12-09 21:21:09 UTC
Modified: 2013-12-09 21:21:09 UTC

Summary: More signs that Ubuntu is deemphasising the desktop and treating users like a product/commodity, not entities whose interests should drive development

The next release of Ubuntu is 4 (or more) months away, but some wonder what will be in Ubuntu 14.04 [1,2]. Based on one source [3], Ubuntu will include torrent search in Dash search but won't be removing the Amazon spyware that comes in Dash (enabled by default), so mistakes are not being addressed, not even after Snowden's NSA leaks.

The LTS of Ubuntu gets a new major Linux update [4], but is that enough to secure users from spying? Is this what "humanity" [5] is about? Selling us users to Amazon (close CIA partner) like we are products? Ubuntu will also deviate from developers' core efforts [6], leaning towards Canonical copyrights again. To Ubuntu, it seems [7,8], desktop is no longer much of a priority; Canonical just tries to improve the brand using the desktop and also extract some money by selling users' privacy away.

Ubuntu may have become somewhat of a standard for performance tests [9,10] (reluctantly), but given the distribution's lack of interest in upstream (kernel patches/development, X server, etc.) perhaps it's time to rethink this. ⬆

Related/contextual items from the news:

What to Expect in Ubuntu 14.04 LTS

What will be in Ubuntu 14.04?

Ubuntu to include torrent search in Dash search

Ubuntu 12.04 LTS Receives Major Kernel Update

How Ubuntu translates hi-tech into humanity

Canonical to Debut New Mir Display Server for Ubuntu Linux in 2014

Canonical: Ubuntu TV Lives, But Linux Smartphones Come First

Ubuntu Used to Design and Control the Atlas Humanoid Robot for a DARPA Challenge

Six-Way Ubuntu Linux Laptop Benchmarks

The latest open-source Linux benchmarks out of Phoronix is a six-way Linux laptop performance comparison featuring laptops/ultrabooks from Lenovo, Hewlett-Packard, ASUS, and Apple.

Oibaf Keeps Making Ubuntu GPU Driver Upgrades Easy

For those that may have some time this holiday weekend and are looking to better enhance the performance of Ubuntu's open-source graphics drivers, one of the easiest ways to do so is by enabling the Oibaf repository for easily downloading and installing newer versions of the Mesa/Gallium3D drivers and other X.Org related components. Here are some more details and current benchmarks of enabling the Oibaf PPA over Ubuntu 13.10.

Rejecting 'Snoop-Phones' and Turning "Old" Phones (or Tablets) Into Freedom-Respecting Appliances: Paul Fernhout (pdfernhout.net) wrote back to Akira Urushibatathis this past weekend
Apple is the Company of Dictators and Worse: Apple is just another greedy corporation in search of sweatshops and even pedophiles (especially the high-profile ones)
Counting Unhatched Eggs Is Not Counting Chickens: Everything here will persist as normal
The "Infinite Bread": The biblical story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 has software parallels
In Many Cases and in Many Different Ways, Technology Became Less Durable and Less Reliable Over Time: The "modern" things are more complex. And complexity is a foe or reliability and repair-ability.
Microsoft's LinkedIn is Losing Money, Traffic, and Hope; Now It Wants to Sell Its Users' Lifeblood (and Data): Let this be a reminder of what social control media really is about
Microsoft Lunduke: Freedom of Speech Means Spreading What I Have to Say and Banning People I Disagree With: 4Chan is one he aims for and he is siccing 4Chan trolls at people he doesn't like
Richard Stallman Back at the "Rudolf-Diesel" Hörsal "MW 2001" in About 40 Hours: He spoke there before; there's a very high seating capacity there
Slopwatch: Google News Promoting Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD): What is the value of Google News if so many results in it are fake 'articles?
Our Uptime This Year Was Better Than AWS (Also a Lot Cheaper): We never used "the cloud"
Amazon Web Shenanigans: An ongoing, experimental endeavour
Death of Elias Diem: FSFE mailing list archives hidden: Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Links 20/10/2025: Louvre Museum Reveals Weakness, About 7 Million Protest US Turning Into Oligarchy/Monarchy: Links for the day
They Should Have Listened to Techrights Over a Month Earlier (Xubuntu Site Compromised): we reported this issue about 40 days earlier and nobody did anything about it
Richard Stallman to Give Another Talk Today in Bavaria (Bavarian Academy of Science): Tomorrow at 6 PM he speaks in Munich
Barry Kauler Explains That Puppy Linux and EasyOS Exclude Systemd to Keep Things Simple: Barry Kauler's Puppy Linux is in the community's hands. He now focuses on EasyOS and more.
Half a Year After Brian Fagioli Got Kicked Out of BetaNews for Slop He's Still Doing LLM Slop and Slop Images Targeting 'Linux' (Plagiarising Original Works): If the Web gets polluted or flooded by slopfarms such as these, and Slashdot then sends traffic so these slopfarms (Slashdot probably doesn't do this intentionally), then real writers with real knowledge of GNU/Linux will lose the spark for publishing
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Sunday, October 19, 2025: IRC logs for Sunday, October 19, 2025
Campaign of FUD Against Framework Laptops and GNU/Linux (Using Microsoft's Attack on Linux, 'Secure Boot'): Ritual Defamation Cult has turned its attention over to Framework
Liberation From 'The Feed': They rank things based on the editor's choice/ideology (he or she knows the sponsors, hence the masters)
Microsoft's Killing of Vista 10 Seems to Have Resulted in More Articles About GNU/Linux (But Also FUD): We not only saw a rise in traffic, we also saw a remarkable rise in the number of articles
Today (a Day Before Richard Stallman Talk at TUM) There's a Patent Propaganda Event at TUM: Perhaps an opportunity for Dr. Stallman to rebut this "invention to patent" nonsense/fantasy (conflating monopolies with innovation)
OpenSource or "Open Source" as a Brand is Dying, Let's Get Back to Talking About Software Freedom: Those of us who actually want to reform the industry and put users in control of their systems/devices will recognise that "Open Source" was selling a lie or got-co-opted by liars
19 Years in Numbers: Techrights' Anniversary Countdown and Retrospective: In 2019 we began improving our workflows and, accordingly/predictably, we became a lot more productive
Slop Turns People Off (LLMs Lack Intelligence, They're Just Plagiarism Powerhouses That Fail to Deliver Any Real, Measurable Value): "More" (or "MOAR") isn't always better
IBM Red Hat Has Re-calibrated or Adjusted to Bubble Economics, False Promises, and Slop/Plagiarism: This won't end well
Fake Numbers, Fake Claims, Fake Economy, and Media Grifters That Prop Up Fraud: Grifters like The Register MS won't be looked upon kindly after the bubble implodes
For Some, the GNU Web Site is Not Accessible This Week: They seem to have gone into some kind of lock-down mode
Symptoms of Upcoming Microsoft Layoffs in XBox: A crashing franchise
Psychiatrist confession: Germanwings crash & Debian toxic culture recognized before suicides: Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
Gemini Links 19/10/2025: Scentjacking 101, Slop Hype Boosters, and Steam Next Fest: Links for the day
Slopwatch: The Serial Slopper, LinuxSecurity, and Google News: Let's hope slopfarms die as soon as possible
Links 19/10/2025: Cambodia Scam Centres, Slop Hurting Wikipedia Traffic: Links for the day
As Economies Crumble Free as in Beer Will Matter, Not Just Free as in Freedom/Libre (Libertad): French regions choosing to embrace Software Freedom
25 Years Ago, an Explanation of How Reducing Free Software to 'Apps' Would Interfere With Freedom Goals: there's nothing unreasonable about it
A List of 63 Known Gemini Clients (Software to Browse Geminispace Content With Gemini Protocol): Not counting browser plugins for Web browsers
Gemini Links 19/10/2025: "Firma Odin Is Transforming" and Bot Attacks While "AFK": Links for the day
US Government: 6.1% of Site Visitors Use GNU/Linux: GNU/Linux has a considerable share and it is growing
LLM Slop Could Not Rise to Prominence Without Media Complicity and Artificial Hype: Inane garbage disguised as "journalism"
Why the FSF No Longer Recommends Debian, as Explained by Richard Stallman This Month: some weeks ago
All the Latest Half Dozen Articles by Mehedi Hasan (UbuntuPIT) Only Admit at the End That He's Using LLM Slop: Disclosure is OK, but the practice of using slop is not
The 'Modern' Web of Fake Security and Easy Censorship of Whole Domains: Each year it gets worse
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Saturday, October 18, 2025: IRC logs for Saturday, October 18, 2025
The Term "AI" is Not New and What Today's Media Calls "AI" Isn't Even AI: Only the hype was new... and totally artificial
Gemini Links 18/10/2025: "Planetary Rings", Steam, and PSU Replacement: Links for the day
Defeating LLM Abuse (State-of-the-Art Plagiarism) in the Area of Linux and GNU, Free Software, BSD, Security and So On: The aim is to get them to stop using LLMs to rip off other people's work
Links 18/10/2025: Russell Vought in Charge, US Government Leans to Russia Again: Links for the day
Credit Where It's Due: LinuxConfig.org Quit Doing LLM Slop, Back to Original and Real Articles: We waited for a while to say this, now it seems conclusive
Of Note: UbuntuPIT Aware of Critics of Slop, Adds Disclosure of Use of LLMs: We appreciate the honesty
Links 18/10/2025: Madagascar's President Flees and ICE Arrests Protest Comedian Robby Roadsteamer: Links for the day
Richard Stallman Near the European Patent Office (EPO) in 3 Days From Now: It'll be a good opportunity for patent examiners to listen, ask questions, and maybe greet him in person
From Scholar to Booster of Slop (and Even Slop in His Own Blog): We're going to keep an eye on future posts of his
End of Vista 10 Also Good News for the BSDs: There are many news sites that recommend trying GNU/Linux this month
What's Wrong With Liking Parrots or Birds as Pets?: They'd demonise people for speaking about freedom, no matter what they say or do
Digital Sanitation Good Practices: leave behind Microsoftism
10 Days Ago Richard Stallman Gave a Long Interview in French (linuxfr.org): English translation
Science, Not Fast Food/Junk Food: The commercial exploitation of users won't stop until users exercise full control over their software or - more broadly - their computing (including data)
The Free Software Foundation, Which Has Appointed a 43-Year-Old President, is Looking to Add Another Board Member (or Treasurer): expect the FSF to add more people
Richard Stallman Confirms Next Week's Talk at Technical University of Munich, We Urge EPO Staff to Attend: That's probably late enough for EPO staff to attend after work
Gemini Links 18/10/2025: Notifications and Geminaut: Links for the day
Many Red Hat People Are Leaving, But It'll Be Framed Publicly as Leaving IBM: Similarly, IBM layoffs (or "RAs" as they're called) include Red Hat layoffs
Expect More Waves of Microsoft Layoffs This Month (at Least Two Rounds Confirmed Already): From what we can gather, assuming the recent rumours about XBox are true, there will be at least 3 waves of Microsoft layoffs this month alone
Security Issues in Cisco and Jenkins Passed Off as "Linux" Problems: Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt (FUD) tactics
Over at Tux Machines...: GNU/Linux news for the past day
IRC Proceedings: Friday, October 17, 2025: IRC logs for Friday, October 17, 2025

Ubuntu is Not Truly Focused on Desktops Anymore

Recent Techrights' Posts