ubuntu-phone team mailing list archive

[Benjamin Tegge <benjaminosm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Am Freitag, den 06.11.2015, 00:55 +0100 schrieb Peter Bittner:
> I've accidentally come across a Richard Stallman interview on Ubuntu.
> He's mainly concerned about the spying feature of Ubuntu's dash when
> you do a search on your device.
> 
> - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP8CNp-vksc
> 
> Is it planned to remove this spying feature? If not, are there plans
> to make it more transparent to users what is happening on their device
> (beyond just signing off an agreement when you first start your device
> or you freshly installed system)?
> 
> Will the spying feature then also be on all phones one day?
> 
> Peter
> 

Just a small note in addition to Robert's answer that the video was
uploaded in 2013. Here is an article on OMGUbuntu from 2014:
http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2014/03/ubuntu-make-amazon-product-results-opt-unity

RMS expressed himself very clearly in the video. He chose to use the
term spyware because it is used to label unwanted behaviour in software
by consumers who can barely comprehend what software is. The same users
however would be very much offended to just be reminded about the fact
that they use spyware/non-free software every time they want to use
Facebook (Instagram, Whatsapp), Amazon (Audbile, Twitch…), Google
(YouTube) or just doing texting or calling (interaction with your phones
baseband firmware and surveillance through the carrier).

There is so much irony in watching this interview on YouTube with
average proprietary hardware (Intel/AMD/Nvidia/Qualcomm…). His own
words:
https://media.ccc.de/v/31c3_-_6123_-_en_-_saal_1_-_201412291130_-_freedom_in_your_computer_and_in_the_net_-_richard_stallman#video

The Ubuntu phone in its current form is not about providing an ecosystem
of a 100% FSF compliant phone OS on free (baseband firmware) and fair
hardware (like Fairphone) and carriers around the globe that respect
your freedom. That would be a really nice thing to have but it requires
more that just slacktivism to achieve it – no offence.


Best regards,
Benjamin