Ubuntu's Lucid Lynx turns back on Yahoo! search switcheroo

Ubuntu coders have abandoned plans to shift the next iteration of their popular distro to Yahoo! as the default search engine within Firefox and instead will stick with Google after all. The open source outfit didn’t reveal why it had backtracked on its plans to replace Google as its default search engine in Ubuntu 10.04, AKA …

[Rob Beard]

Just when I was getting used to Yahoo...

Ahh just when I was getting used to Yahoo too. Oh well, I guess I can always change it back.

Now if they just sort out those bloody window controls, I mean WTF are they thinking putting them on the left hand side of the window?

Fair enough that OSX does it but it's not even the same as OSX!

Rob

[Phillip Webster]

So move them back

The location of the window controls is an easy change.

I've been moving the close button to the left (used to it from the old RISC OS days) and removing all the others for years under Linux. I don't use minimise or maximise with X.

Personal preference: Linux is good at it. Go look at the options if you're not happy with the default layout.

[Mike Flugennock]

Window controls on the left...?

Actually, as I recall, window controls have _always_ been on the left in MacOS, not just in OSX.

What always confused the hell out of me was the "scattered" window controls in Windoze.

[Sebastian Brosig]

GooHooSwitcheroo

Well obviously Google offered to drop a few more pennies in Canonical's piggy bank. Mission accomplished.

[James Dunmore]

They got a backhander from google then

....That's about it.. Google paid up.

Paris, because she'll do anything for fame and money too ;)

[Fluffykins]

Thank Goodness and <rant>

Any outfit that acts like a malware purveyor - Toolbars bundled with completely unrelated third party software and installation selected by default and licence terms almost (but not quite) hidden, deserves to be ditched.

I got sick of removing Yahoo toolbars installed with various software packages and updates.

If Yahoo would market their thing on its merits rather than push it as parasiteware, they may generate a little respect

</rant>

[TeeCee]

Six of one.

The trouble is that if you substitute the word "Google" for the word "Yahoo" in that rant, it still works equally as well.

[Anonymous Coward]

Which one??

It's funny that all through the first paragraph, I was thinking "yahoo or google??"

And the rest of the post works equally as well if you: sed "s/Yahoo/Google/"

All browser toolbars should be banned in my opinion. A browser should be a window to the web only... we don't need anything more than an address bar (and sometimes we don't even need that).

[Tim Bates]

Ban all toolbars?

I think not! What about the ones that have some actual use, such as the "Web Developer" toolbar for Firefox?

Well, actually, now that I think about it... Ban them all except that. Don't think I've seen any others that were of any use.

[monosodium]

re: (untitled)

Fluffykins - Google don't do exactly the same thing because that would be evil*.

* Except for when they do and then it's not evil because it's Google doing it...

I've had enough of the googly eyes thanks!

[Anonymous Coward]

Well at least I have a choice

At work, all the machines are Bingified and we can't change it ...

[Craigness]

Perhaps...

http://www.bing.com/search?q=google

[Anonymous Coward]

Window Controls

@Rob

You can always change the theme to one that places the window controls on the right. Personally I quite like them on the left.

As for the change back to Google, I wonder if this is simply for familiarity purposes or whether a revenue deal has now been struck with Google? Not that I mind either way - I always prefer to use Google.

[Andrew Smith]

All change

My thought was that with all the stats they got back from the Beta; most people had switched it to google. Why fight what you can't control?

[Keith 20]

google

I switched it to google anyway after a couple of days (obviously I can't handle change).

Its interesting if they did get some cash from google, maybe there is an income from this open-source stuff!

[Nexox Enigma]

Neh

"""Its interesting if they did get some cash from google, maybe there is an income from this open-source stuff!"""

That's not income from open source, just income from advertising, which we all know makes money on the Internets. It just happens to be that an open source project can place some ads (default search, same effect as an ad) somewhere, but that's not really at all related to their source, be it open or closed.

[Goat Jam]

Rearranging the deckchairs

""In this case, choosing Google will be familiar to everybody upgrading from 9.10 to 10.04"

Oh goody. Maybe they can use the same logic and move the goddam window controls back to the RHS where they should be too, or am I expecting to much?

[Anonymous Coward]

"or am I expecting to much?"

Yes.

[Atli]

It's a beta!

""Maybe they can use the same logic and move the goddam window controls back to the RHS where they should be too, or am I expecting to much?""

It is highly doubtful this change will make it into the final version of 10.04. It's the sort of change that will only make sense to advanced users (the users who could do it manually) and only confuse "regular" users. (Not the "regular" Linux users are like generic "regular" users....)

It's in the test version because... well... they use them to TEST stuff.

If you can't handle a minor change like this, or can't manage to find 2 minutes to Google the (very simple) procedure to change it back... perhaps you should just stick to release versions.

... Sorry if that sounds aggressive or insulting. I'm just sick of people whining over this MINOR change in the PRE-RELEASE, TEST version.

[The BigYin]

Why not...

...check out the (public!) bug report?

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/light-themes/+bug/532633

Open Source generally encourages involvement and community. Even if a decision does not go your way, you will often find out how to configure things to suit your needs.

So rather than sit on the interwebs and whinge, why not actually do something?

Just a suggestion.

[elderlybloke]

Why all the fuss?

Two clicks on that thing up on the top right of my Browser and I have selected the one I want of the nine available search engines available.

The non issues that people can argue about never cease to amaze me.

[Mark Hill]

Jaunty?

I heard there were problems with Karmic Koala so I stayed with Jaunty Jackalope and have been very happy. Somebody tell me why I should go to Lucid Lynx?

New peripherals are not an issue - mine work just fine wiith JJ. I won't likely be getting any new hardware any time soon, so why else might I consider LL?

Of course the default search engine in JJ is Google, and that is the way I want it to stay!

Call me a creature of habit, or whatever, I still prefer Google!

[informavorette]

(untitled)

> I stayed with Jaunty Jackalope and have been very happy. Somebody tell me why I should go to Lucid Lynx?

<rant>Users with this attitude are the reason why poor web developers are forced to deface their code with monstrous hacks in order to ensure compatibility with IE6. </rant>

You seem to be the perfect case of a user who needs the LTS cycle only - which still is a reason to upgrade, as Lucid _is_ a LTS version.

[Ian Johnston]

You and me both

9.10 was and is a dreadful step back. It boots slower and on my Thinkpad alone it broke both the WiFi and the graphics. Then, just to add to the fun they pulled support for almost all Huawei dongles. It's now being claimed to be because Huawei don't stick to USB standards but It Worked Fine Before.

Ubuntu now seems to be driven by snotty kids who want to police the IT world ("No, you can't connect to mobile broadband any more because I don't approve of your dongle") and experimentalists who foist half-arsed theories on users. A fat lot of good that did the OLPC zalots and a fat lot of good it's going to do Ubuntu.

I've got 6 or 7 computers in daily use with Ubuntu 9.04 - not a single one of them is going to get 10.04, and if things don't get a lot better I'll plan to change distro soon.

[Outcast]

@ Jaunty

Ext4 by default

[Adam 38]

Firefox & Google

Mozilla have a deal with google worth like $80m or something to have Google as the default search. I wonder if they said to Canonical that they would have to drop the "Firefox" and go "IceWeasel" if they wanted to switch to Yahoo!

[webdude]

Search Engines?

Who cares what they put in that little box up there in the corner?

If you have been married for any amount of time you would know you don't need a search engine; wife knows every freaking thing!

[tempemeaty]

Comfy partners perhaps....

Yahoo to comfy with M$?