Ubuntu Will Now Have Amazon Ads Pre-Installed

An anonymous reader writes "Scheduled to be released next month, Ubuntu 12.10 now includes both Amazon ads in the user's dash and by default an Amazon store in the user's launcher. The reason for these 'features'? Affiliate revenue. Despite previous controversies with Banshee and Yahoo, Canonical is 'confident it will be an interesting and useful feature for our 12.10 users.' But are the 'users' becoming products?" Update: 09/22 19:35 GMT by T : Reader bkerensa scoffs, calling the Amazon integration unobtrusive, and says objections to its inclusion in the OS should be ignored, "because in reality ads will not be found in 12.10 unless you are seeing them on a third party website you go to in a web browser." He's got screenshots.

Enough Microsoft!

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm switching to Linux... oh wait

Dash

[Halo1]

Ubuntu 12.10 now includes both Amazon ads in the user's dash

I hope I'm not the only one that got visions of a /etc/profile spewing out Amazon commercials when reading the above.

Re:Easily disabled

[Anonymous Coward]

Just open up a terminal? My grandma is not going to "just open up a terminal". That doesn't count as "trivial to remove", sorry.

Huh... I guess the appeal of Unity is irresistible

[blind biker]

Now that Unity has gained Ubuntu such a great usage/market share and cemented user loyalty, Canonical can bring home the moolah by integrating Amazon ads with Unity.

(This pas was written in an alternative universe where the above makes sense)

Re:Enough Microsoft!

[Ol Biscuitbarrel]

What surprised me from reading TFS was that Ubuntu only has 12.10 users.

Adbuntu

[flyingfsck]

Adbuntu, the consumer friendly distribution.

Re:The headline sounded bad, but they did it well.

[melikamp]

If advertisers don't pay you already, they should!