Hey #Canonical, are you MAD?
"popularity-contest"? On a #Ubuntu #server? Freshly installed? Without notice?
Guys, seriously. Installing some kind of software "just because we can" during OS deployment is Microsoft-style.
Honestly I do not care if it runs without further configuration or whatever, but a by-default enabled cron job is enough for me to take further action.
This is exactly what causes computer security issues. Dropping software on users without need nor confirmation.
Please. Don't be #Microsoft.
And this is my polite version.
"popularity-contest"? On a #Ubuntu #server? Freshly installed? Without notice?
Guys, seriously. Installing some kind of software "just because we can" during OS deployment is Microsoft-style.
Honestly I do not care if it runs without further configuration or whatever, but a by-default enabled cron job is enough for me to take further action.
This is exactly what causes computer security issues. Dropping software on users without need nor confirmation.
Please. Don't be #Microsoft.
And this is my polite version.
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Roland Häder
•Felix Tiede
•I don't care if the data is public or closed.
I don't care if the software doesn't run without being configured.
I don't care if it is "for the convenience of our userbase".
I want to know what's running on my servers and at the end of the day I and I alone am the authority of that.
Ubuntu doesn't even install an SSHd without being told to do so during setup, but a "popularity-contest", possibly disclosing classified information, is?
Ubuntu doesn't ask for its timezone during installation, but a "popularity-contest" gets a cron job?
That is user-ignorant arrogance at its best. "We know perfectly well, what you want. We don't need to ask."
Microsoft acts the absolute same way: "You don't need another browser! Internet Explorer is fine!"
No, there's no difference between Microsoft and Canonical here, regardless of whether the collected data is made public or not.
Roland Häder likes this.
★Miller
•Roland Häder likes this.
Felix Tiede
•It is for a special service and they do not support anything but Ubuntu - and I'm too old to prove them wrong.
Other than that, this is one more point on that bucket list why "commercial distributions" - any commercial distribution, whether that's Linux or any other OS - are problematic at best.
But then I haven't forgotten how systemd made its way into Debian, how Devuan came to be. So, community-run distros may or may not be better off.
Blessed are those who are not bound to their Distros by the high-level software in use.
(Yes, I am sad paperlessng is not available outside a docker image…)
Roland Häder likes this.
Rainer "diasp.org" Sokoll ✅
•UbuntuPopularityContest - Community Help Wiki
help.ubuntu.comRoland Häder likes this.
Felix Tiede
•Still, there is a daily cron job running by default after a fresh server system OS installation.
And it is not in any way related to system operations.
An update check? Granted, of course.
A log rotate? Sure as hell. Nothing's as bad as a disk full error because of log file overrun.
Some kind of log analyzer? Probably.
A job necessary to run a provided service? Okay, that depends on if that service is essential. But that is likely, because, by default, Ubuntu server does not install any service, so such a cron job must be the result of deliberate administrator action.
Some kind of reporting software disclosing confidential information? Never! I don't care if it needs manual activation. It shouldn't be there in the first place. If Canonical is soooo inclined to know numbers of the installation base the setup wizard can quite as well put up a question, with all information required for a real decision. It might even add the necessary configuration/activation steps.
That... show more
Still, there is a daily cron job running by default after a fresh server system OS installation.
And it is not in any way related to system operations.
An update check? Granted, of course.
A log rotate? Sure as hell. Nothing's as bad as a disk full error because of log file overrun.
Some kind of log analyzer? Probably.
A job necessary to run a provided service? Okay, that depends on if that service is essential. But that is likely, because, by default, Ubuntu server does not install any service, so such a cron job must be the result of deliberate administrator action.
Some kind of reporting software disclosing confidential information? Never! I don't care if it needs manual activation. It shouldn't be there in the first place. If Canonical is soooo inclined to know numbers of the installation base the setup wizard can quite as well put up a question, with all information required for a real decision. It might even add the necessary configuration/activation steps.
That wouls at least be honest. This one here is sneaky at best. Who knows if the next update of it still requires manual activation?
Sorry, but this is unacceptable.