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Is the Amazon feature that comes bundled with Ubuntu standard installations inherent to all Ubuntu derivatives (like e.g. Mint, Xubuntu, etc), or is it only present in the vanilla Ubuntu Desktop version?

Can anyone recommend a distribution that doesn't have the Amazon desktop feature?

Zanna
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Jakke
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    That you disagree doesn't change the facts. Disable the Amazon feature and you're done. Also, the Amazon integration is only with the Unity Dash. The other official derivatives shouldn't be affected. What Mint does is up to Mint. – muru Aug 26 '14 at 23:38
  • To me, it's a matter of trust in the company, Canonical. Just like I don't agree with Windows in so many ways, I chose to move away from it. Putting up a different DE is not going to change that. So my question remains... – Jakke Aug 27 '14 at 00:11
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    Canonical is keeping very PERSONAL information from me on their servers. That is a heavy invasion in privacy which I don't take lightly, especially because they haven't asked my permission to do it. If they would've given me the option to opt in at time of the installation, that would've been a totally different case. – Jakke Aug 27 '14 at 00:13
  • Then the best place to go is upstream: Debian. Or better yet: LFS. – muru Aug 27 '14 at 00:13
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    Nonsense. If you tell them not to, they won't keep data. – muru Aug 27 '14 at 00:14
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    as with other os you mentioned, if you don't agree with ubuntu, use an alternate from Trisquel to debian to mint to arch to fedora ... – Panther Aug 27 '14 at 04:37
  • I find it amazing that my wording has been edited and all references to spyware has been removed. From the legal notice I read: By searching in the dash you consent to:
    1. the collection and use of your search terms and IP address in this way; and
    2. the storage of your search terms and IP address by Canonical and such selected third parties (if applicable).

    To me, and many other users, this is clearly SPYWARE. The unwillingness to talk about the subject and closing questions related to it will only drive people away from Ubuntu.

     – Jakke Aug 27 '14 at 07:28

1 Answers1

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The official derivatives of Ubuntu really are Ubuntu. If that makes you not want to use them, there's nothing wrong with that, but for other OS recommendations I'd suggest asking in a community that's not all about Ubuntu--our suggestions for non-Ubuntu OSes might lack some important insights. Furthermore, there are many OSes in the world, even many that are substantially similar to Ubuntu, so what you're looking for might be a broad discussion, rather than answers to a narrowly scoped question. With that said...

If you want to know which official derivatives of Ubuntu ship without software that automatically sends personal data to Canonical to search Amazon, that question can certainly be answered. The functionality you're trying to avoid is provided by the unity-lens-shopping package. This is a Unity lens, and it is absent by default in derivatives that don't use Unity at all.

(Of course you can also simply uninstall that package and log out and back in, but I understand that's not the solution you're looking for.)

Ubuntu flavors not shipping with Unity (and thus also not with unity-lens-shoppping) currently are:

I've listed these in the same order as they appear here, and excluded Unity-based flavors.

While I encourage you to seek other sources of information about other distributions, two distributions similar to Ubuntu are very popular: Debian, our upstream distro (i.e., Ubuntu is a derivative of Debian), and Linux Mint, a popular unofficial derivative of Ubuntu. (Linux Mint also offers a version based directly on Debian instead of Ubuntu.)

While they don't have huge user bases, I'd consider two unofficial derivatives of Ubuntu (besides Mint) to be particularly notable: Trisquel GNU/Linux, which includes only free software (the current stable version is based on Ubuntu 12.04); and Ubuntu MATE, which uses the MATE desktop and might get official status.

I understand this answer does not give everything you're looking for, and I reiterate the need to consult people and resources outside the Ubuntu community for a balanced picture of which OSes may be most appropriate for your needs. However, I think the question of which "Ubuntus" ship without Amazon search integration is of interest to many people; perhaps some of them will be helped.

Community
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Eliah Kagan
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  • Thanks for your non-aggressive answer, even if my question may have come across like that to Ubuntu fans. This community can use a lot more people like you! – Jakke Aug 27 '14 at 07:33