Canonical displays controversial 'ad' in shell update prog
- Reference: 1665657851
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/10/13/canonical_ubuntu_ad/
- Source link:
As we described last week, Canonical's "Ubuntu Pro" support offering for its Linux distro is now [1]free of charge for up to five machines . If you update your machine from the command line with the apt command, you get an unsolicited ad for the scheme – and some users are not happy about it.
There are complaints on [2]Reddit , [3]Mastodon , and on the company's own StackExchange site [4]AskUbuntu .
[5]
This is far from the first time Ubuntu has faced such discontent. Last time, it was a promotional message on servers' login screens that caused [6]complaints . This was merely some text added to the /etc/motd file (that is, Message Of The Day ), but one cause of upset is that it fetched the information from online – in theory, that might fail or cause unanticipated network access.
[7]
[8]
A decade before that, it was [9]Amazon listings in search results and [10]fishing for donations on its download page.
The new message appears if you use Ubuntu's simplified apt front-end to the underlying Debian Advanced Packaging Tool, although as we mentioned while [11]looking at some Debian derivatives , Debian itself has now adopted the apt command. If you prefer, the older apt-get , and apt-cache commands are still there in both Ubuntu and Debian, and they won't show the message. They're a better choice if you're scripting the operations, too.
[12]
Although this is not what anyone outside the company expected, for years there's been a warning if you redirect the apt command's output: WARNING: apt does not have a stable CLI interface. Use with caution in scripts.
[13]Canonical makes Ubuntu Pro free for up to five machines
[14]Amazon lets you rent Ubuntu Pro. Yes, it's Linux on the virtual desktop
[15]Tuxedo Computers releases version 1.0 of its Ubuntu remix
[16]You thought you bought software – all you bought was a lie
For what it's worth, the Reg FOSS desk doesn't really feel that this counts as advertising. The message is informing sysadmins about a free service, which is worth having if you have to keep a few old machines in active service. If you don't live online, you might have missed the news, and it is something worth knowing about.
If you like the simplicity of using the apt command but are irritated by such things, there are alternative wrappers around the underlying APT package-management system. You could install [17]aptitude , which used to be Debian's recommended "high-level" wrapper around the APT toolchain.
There are more modern alternative options out there, too. One is [18]Wajig . Its [19]documentation can tell you more about what it can do – including managing daemons, showing logs, and more.
Another option is the [20]Nala package manager, which brings some of the extra niceties of Red Hat's dnf command to Ubuntu and its relatives. Nala can do multiple downloads in parallel, check for faster mirrors and more, and its output uses more formatting for increased readability.
[21]
Both of them are implemented in Python – which might add to their appeal to Pythonistas, and makes it easier to see how they work under the hood. ®
Get our [22]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/06/ubuntu_pro_free/
[2] https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/xyu0bo/wtf_ubuntu_why_is_there_advertisements_in_sudo/
[3] https://mastodon.social/web/@Longplay_Games/109151837878722871
[4] https://askubuntu.com/questions/1434512/how-to-get-rid-of-ubuntu-pro-advertisement-when-updating-apt
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y0g2G2R6QvtrBoVp2Ub40QAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.reddit.com/r/linux/comments/hfs4v9/ubuntu_is_putting_ads_in_their_motd_now/
[7] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y0g2G2R6QvtrBoVp2Ub40QAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[8] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y0g2G2R6QvtrBoVp2Ub40QAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2012/09/24/ubuntu_amazon_suggestions/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2012/10/11/ubuntu_download_donations/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/18/disentangling_the_debian_derivatives/
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y0g2G2R6QvtrBoVp2Ub40QAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/06/ubuntu_pro_free/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/30/ubuntu_amazon_virtual_desktop/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/12/tuxedo_computers_version_1/
[16] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/04/you_cannot_buy_software/
[17] https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/xenial/man8/aptitude-curses.8.html
[18] https://wajig.togaware.com/
[19] https://wajig.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
[20] https://gitlab.com/volian/nala
[21] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/oses&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y0g2G2R6QvtrBoVp2Ub40QAAAMg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[22] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
I agree, actually. Perhaps because I read through this this morning: [1]https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/y1skxq/i_cant_deal_with_how_ht_google_and_alexa_have/ , which feels very similar.
It's not advertising exactly , but it is a "Look! Look at this other stuff we can do" - I can just about deal with this with apt , but there's undeniably a trend here which will become *&%@ing annoying if ubiquitous. It's a distraction, I don't need more distractions.
[1] https://www.reddit.com/r/homeassistant/comments/y1skxq/i_cant_deal_with_how_ht_google_and_alexa_have/
All it does is steer me away from the brand carrying this utter crap.
uh, no
It is advertising, exactly.
Just because it's free doesn't mean it's not drawing attention to a service. If it were a free to play game for Android, would you say it wasn't advertising? Or a political candidate?
It's like those foreign kids knocking on my door debating the meaning of "NO SOLICITING". They're not selling anything, promise! It's just a free assessment to see how much I'd save with solar! So, exactly like soliciting, then.
Same here with advertising. There's no debate, don't give them a break.
Per Oxford: https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/2975
4. a. transitive. To make generally known by means of an announcement in a public medium; spec. (a) to publish information about (a person (now rare), thing, circumstance, or event) so as to attract public attention; (b) to describe or present (a product, service, or the like) in order to promote sales. Frequently with by, in, on the medium specified (as a journal, radio, television, etc.). (Now the most common sense.)
As Microsoft has "Apple-Envy" so does Canonical have "RHEL-envy" and Microsoft-envy". Life is becoming one big ad-dodging exercise in IT these days. Ad senders need to know that I am not going to react/buy from them - ever. You are wasting your time sending stuff to me, as all you are doing is making me adverse to your brand.
You say that, but
People always say, "I'm not affected by advertising" and advertisers just laugh all the way to the bank every time. They have literal mountains of research showing exactly the opposite is true, which is why companies still bother with advertising. You may think it's making you adverse to the brand, but maybe 6-months from now you are thinking about what your options are for upgrading some system and Ubuntu and RedHat might be the two names that come top of mind because of all the advertising. Without even really meaning to, you may rule out other possibilities because you forget they even exist and just look into whatever options you can think of off the top of your head.
Why not just do it above board?
Baking advertising in existing functionality will meet resistance.
But if a window appeared which showed you adverts after logging in or unlocking the screen which you could easily dismiss or click on to open the brower, there was a slider which let you disable them or set the minimum time between window pop ups after logging in/unlocking from 1 hour to e.g. 7 days, there was no tracking involved, and the installation wizard explained why advertising supports Canonical and lets people opt in, I bet people would choose to support them.
Re: Why not just do it above board?
No, unwanted popups are just as much a red flag as unexpected CLI text.
I do look a little more kindly on popups with a button 'never show this again' but even a few of those are too many.
Linux is free. It's not ad-supported. If a distro has that as it's business plan it needs to very carefully separate it from actual Linux. If it's the only way something can exist, consider whether it *should* exist.
And thus the free software ecosystem is revealed.
Nothing locks anyone into Free Software. If you don't like this distro then feel free to decamp or, gasp, obtain the source and compile it all from scratch.
Never used Ubuntu, never intend to. No-one is compelling anyone else to use it either.
You don't like their approach but as an alternative to finding an alternative luckily something else free to use gives you an opportunity to be an outrage warrior.
Wikipedia provides an interesting analogy. I've bunged it a couple of quid every now and again and yes its annual fundraising banners are a bit annoying. But if they are to be believed 99% of users do not give anything. Perhaps LibreOffice have a point?
Re: And thus the free software ecosystem is revealed.
Any one of the curmudgeonly complainers could always fork Ubuntu and make their own distro. But that is a lot more work than complaining.
Re: And thus the free software ecosystem is revealed.
You COULD, but you ever notice how some people aren't happy unless they're miserable?
Simple fact is, until we live in a Star Trek-like post-scarcity world where all your basic needs are taken care of free of charge... people need money to live. We all like free stuff, but there's nothing wrong with the people putting in a lot of hours to want to get paid for their time and efforts. I mean, if everyone who used Ubuntu chipped in a fiver each year, the company would probably be rolling in cash relative to now. However, as you and another commentard pointed out, people just want an excuse to complain. It's all performative and 99.9% of the people complaining will not even make a nominal effort to find a way to avoid the "ads".
apt-get is infected as well
Just a minor point of correction, apt-get is also infected with this malady.
The devs have stated that they will move the ad to the bottom of the message output, in a minor concession to those who parse the output automatically.
They have also stated that they WILL NOT remove this 'functionality' since _this_ particular message will disappear in a short time on its own. You know, when the ad campaign runs its course.
Amazon ads, Snaps, now hijacking command line apps to spam users. Every day Canonical makes me question why I use their distros.
Perhaps Debian or even something in the RedHat family if they keep this up.
It's all very well saying that this points people who don't live online at a free service. But this is the beginning. You normalise it here, where does it end?
One of the first unsolicited commercial emails was sent by DEC, and no less a luminary than Richard Stallman defended them. I think we can all see how that's ended well and nobody has abused that idea since then, right?