So Canonical is saying the totally free ride is over, it’s time to start paying for Ubuntu. Sort of.

It’s time to stop getting Ubuntu for free, and their choice of ways to monetize? Serve you ads in the OS of course. Expect to see ads from Amazon in Ubuntu.

Now I can’t blame anyone for making money to feed their kids, live in a house, and enjoy some comfort in life. This move by Cannonical just seems like a stupid waste of time though.

Linux for the Sort of Nerds

When I install Linux it has always been Ubuntu. Yes I know real nerds build from source, but I’d rather ride my bike and draw with my kid than spend hours or days building from source. Ubuntu has allowed me to be a bit in the Linux world without a whole bunch of hassle.

Where’s the thing, I’m not going to build from source but I’m geeky enough to remove the ads from Ubuntu. A quick terminal command ( ‘sudo apt-get remove unity-lens-shopping’ if you’re interested) and ads are gone. Does Canonical really think that 99% of their users won’t do this immediatly?

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So the question is, why piss off their users by selling them? Simply advertisers will pay more for eyes than users will pay to not have ads.

I want to see Ubuntu stick around. I want them to feed their kids. I hope this initiative falls on it’s face.