I just finished reading an article at lifehacker.com, talking about the switch, to be part of Lucid Lynx, of search engines from Google to Yahoo. Google has always given back to the Linux community (Google Summer of Code, products such as Picasa and Google-Desktop being ported to Linux). Google supports Mozilla, the company behind Firefox.
I know that Google’s attempt to come up with its own version of the Ubuntu distribution may have hurt some feelings, but using this as a good time to accept blood money from Yahoo/Microsoft What has Yahoo ever done to support the Linux community? Yahoo uses Bing to power its search engine. The Yahoo leadership tried to work out a plan to sell Yahoo to Microsoft. I understand that the deal between Canonical and Yahoo is supposed to generate some more money to pay Ubuntu developers – but so would selling crystal meth or tobacco. Canonical should be above this.
Here is what I sent to webmaster@ubuntu.com – since there was no other place on the Ubuntu website that I could find to post suggestions:
What is going on with Ubuntu now subsidizing Yahoo/Microsoft by putting Yahoo/Bing as the search engine instead of Google? Is this some MBA’s version of a cruel joke? Google gives back to the Linux community – Google Summer of Code, Google toolbar, Picasa and other products being ported to Linux, etc. Yahoo, on the other hand, uses Bing to power its searches. What percent of the money Yahoo gets from captive Ubuntu users is going to go to Microsoft to try to get rid of Linux? What is next – switching us directly to Bing?
If this very poorly thought out idea is forced upon the Ubuntu community, I will have no choice other than to switch my personal search engine back to Google, and to tell other people who read my blog (ubuntulady.wordpress.com) how to do so. I do not dual-boot M$. I do not want M$ anywhere near my computer. I am not the only one who feels this way. Please look at the reactions on http://www.lifehacker.com to the announcement of the switch there.
How many more of these MBA-type travesties are going to be shoved down our throats? You can tell by my blog that I have been a loyal Ubuntu supporter, even testing Alpha releases. I would hate to have to switch to another distribution.
P.S. I don’t know if anyone in the upper reaches of Canonical knows or cares that many of us use Gmail, the Google toolbar, Google bookmarks (yes, my bookmarks are somewhere on a Google server!), and other Google products? I use Google Scholar, for instance, and Google Reader. What the frag was somebody thinking, to come up with this farce?
Technorati Tags: Lucid Lynx, Lucid, Ubuntu, Linux
