The choices inside Ubuntu

Off the Beat: Bruce Byfield's Blog

Hearing that the next Ubuntu release will use Yahoo! as the default search engine in Firefox leaves me with a twinge of uneasiness. My misgiving -- and it's a small one -- is not so much with the decision as with why it was made.

In itself, the decision is trivial enough. If you dislike Yahoo!, you can easily change the default by going to the search engine field in the upper right corner and clicking on the icon and choosing Manage Search Engines from the drop-down menu.

More importantly, to my surprise, comparing half a dozen sets of search results in Google and Yahoo! suggests that Yahoo! generally returns more results than Google -- often at a ratio of three or four to one. Nor are the first page results very different in the two search engines. Yahoo!'s image searches are generally less successful than Google, but otherwise, from a practical viewpoint, the change in the default may actually be an improvement.

However, that isn't the reason the change is being made. According to Platform Team member Rick Spencer, who broke the news in an email to the ubuntu-devel mailing list on behalf of Canonical, Ubuntu's commercial arm, the change will be made because:

"Canonical has negotiated a revenue sharing deal with Yahoo! and this revenue will help Canonical to provide developers and resources to continue the open development of Ubuntu and the Ubuntu Platform. This change will help provide these resources as well as continuing to respect our user's default search across Firefox."

I am not sure that the last sentence has any meaning outside of marketing-speech, but the first sentence makes clear that the change is due to a business deal. The probable technical merits of the change aren't mentioned at all.

Business reasons vs. FOSS reasons

Some people will object to the deal automatically, because, last year, Microsoft emerged as one of Yahoo!'s major partners. As I write, I am sure that others are already reflexively ranting about how Ubuntu is inching closer to Microsoft, citing its use of Mono applications as further proof of this alleged trend.

But that seems a relatively remote concern. What makes me uneasy is that the change is apparently being done solely for business reasons.

I understand that Canonical is searching for a road to profitability. No matter how idealistic, Mark Shuttleworth can't be expected to finance Canonical and Ubuntu indefinitely. I understand, too, that without investment from corporations such as Canonical, free and open source software (FOSS) would not be nearly as advanced today as it is. All things considered, I can't blame Canonical looking for some return on its investment after five years.

But FOSS isn't supposed to be like that, and neither is Ubuntu. The main justification of the open source position is that it produces better quality software, and most of Ubuntu's other innovations seem motivated by exactly this rationale.

Perhaps at times, Ubuntu developers have been motivated by the wish to be the first to work with a new technology. Yet whether you are talking about its replacement of the Init daemon with Upstart or of GRUB with GRUB 2, or its ongoing efforts to improve its interfaces, most of Ubuntu's changes have had sound practical reasons behind them. They made Ubuntu faster or more efficient, and by extension, the free desktop as well.

As things happen, the switch to Yahoo! is probably an improvement, too. The difference, though, is that the improvement is accidental. The trouble with making changes for business reasons is that they don't necessarily coincide with technical reasons. What is good for Canonical may not necessarily be good for Ubuntu, or the GNU/Linux desktop in general.

A change of view?

I am not suggesting that Canonical has sold out, or that we should start organizing boycotts of Ubuntu because Yahoo! is replacing Google. But I do wonder whether, as Canonical becomes -- presumably -- more desperate to turn a profit, if more decisions will be based on business reasons rather than practical ones.

If so, the FOSS community may have to re-evaluate Canonical. In the past, Canonical has mostly seemed a good corporate citizen of the community. Admittedly, its use of Mono has been criticized -- and deservedly so -- but that decision seems to have as many supporters as detractors.

Possibly, the switch to Yahoo! is an anomalous decision. Yet I can't help wondering if it signals a change of direction, away from FOSS ideals towards a more hard-nosed business approach.

If so, the community may find itself re-evaluating Canonical. Instead of regarding Canonical as a firm supporter, we may find ourselves viewing Canonical more the way that many of us regard Google: As a fellow traveler and some time ally, but one that acts out of its own concerns at least as often as it acts for the good of the community.

Am I worrying about nothing? I hope so. All the same, I'll be watching -- a little sadly and reluctantly -- to see if this re-evaluation is necessary.

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