What if google paid for chrome to be default?

[xir_]

This is just a thought experiment.

I'm wondering what the rest of the community would think if google paid canonical to make chrome the default browser in ubuntu.

Now I know a lot of you prefer firefox (me too normally) but google pays the mozilla corporation to make their default search engine google, surely some sort of similar arrangement with canonical could also be possible.

Would you accept this type of change, even if it brought some more funds into canonical?


note: chrome will soon be the default on Sony laptops with W7

[BrokenKingpin]

Would not bother me one bit. I havn't used chrome yet, but if I didn't like it:
sudo apt-get install firefox

[Simon17]

I think when you install Ubuntu, there should be a ballot that pops up and asks you which browser you want to use.

[adeypoop]

I couldn't see it happening, Ubuntu's philosophy doesn't include proprietary software far as I know. It might end up in the medibuntu repository though.

If it did happen I'd only use it long enough to get firefox / swiftfox installed, nothing against chrome except I use too much google stuff already

[sdowney717]

why a single default, install both of them. let the user choose.

i instantly missed features of firefox while trying chrome. smooth scrolling and drop down address bar

[Simon17]

I couldn't see it happening, Ubuntu's philosophy doesn't include proprietary software far as I know.

Wake up and smell the beans.

[Pogeymanz]

I would love that. I can always remove it. It would be free money for Canonical.

[gnomeuser]

Well Google already does OEM deals with certain vendors to have Chrome preinstalled. I wouldn't think they would directly deal with Canonical, but maybe they'd pay a company shipping and supporting Linux such as Dell to use Chrome on their setups.

As for how I would feel, in one sense I would be absolutely fine with it. I have the right and the ability to change the defaults but in the same way I believe that technical superiority for the target audience should be the foundation of such defaults not huge sacks with dollar signs on them.

The slippery slope of course is the anti competitive spin this puts on things. It's a little like letting one company short circuit the need for good design and good security to becoming default by adding a sufficient number of money bags onto the scales.

It's not without pitfalls.

[slumbergod]

First thing I end up doing when I clean install a new distro is to remove every application I don't want (which is usually the default ones). Then I add the ones I like. So Chrome coming by default wouldn't phase me one bit. It'd be the first thing to go :)

[t0p]

why a single default, install both of them. let the user choose.


Why only 2 defaults? Ubuntu could install several and let the user choose.

I can think of: Firefox, Chrome, Chromium, Epiphany, Opera, Konqueror, w3m, Lynx, maybe IE via Wine...

Any more for any more?

[pwnst*r]

works for me

[SuperSonic4]

Why only 2 defaults? Ubuntu could install several and let the user choose.

I can think of: Firefox, Chrome, Chromium, Epiphany, Opera, Konqueror, w3m, Lynx, maybe IE via Wine...

Any more for any more?

Because that setup would have more bloat than vista. Links and the command line - then let the user choose!

[pwnst*r]

Because that setup would have more bloat than vista. Links and the command line - then let the user choose!

true.

[starcannon]

This is just a thought experiment.

I'm wondering what the rest of the community would think if google paid canonical to make chrome the default browser in ubuntu.

Now I know a lot of you prefer firefox (me too normally) but google pays the mozilla corporation to make their default search engine google, surely some sort of similar arrangement with canonical could also be possible.

Would you accept this type of change, even if it brought some more funds into canonical?


note: chrome will soon be the default on Sony laptops with W7

I'm all for it, if it helps subsidize the cost of maintaining my favorite Linux Distribution, then by all means. I'll put Firefox on myself, I don't mind at all; I currently keep Chrome around anyway, so for me it would only be a matter of which one I had to install myself.

I hope Google does make an offer like that. I like when the developers get to eat.

[aysiu]

I wouldn't have a problem with Google paying Dell to include Chrome by default on the Ubuntu computers, but I do think it's a bit weird to have the general default Ubuntu programs decided by bribery instead of by usability (and other considerations).

If the developers say "Hey, Chrome makes the most sense to be the default web browser" on their own, I'm cool with it. If, however, they say "Not too sure about Chrome... but since Google's paying us to put it on there, then okay."

[SuperSonic4]

Surely a more pressing concern is if google doesn't renew their contract with mozilla. IIRC a large amount of mozilla's income comes from google. Should google put that into their own browser

[speedwell68]

I couldn't care less if they did or not, I'd still add Swiftfox.

[xir_]

well i'm rather surprised by a lot of the responses so far, i though people would flip out at the suggestion. But good to see a level headed response.


I remember reading that chrome ships its own version of its rendering engine and will not use the systems default library, so for space on a cd this would have to change.



I suppose a good question would be, why would google do this? they already have something like this with firefox being default.

[DeadSuperHero]

I honestly really love Chrome/Chromium. It sounds like a great idea to me, maybe in the future we'll see it replace Firefox on the LiveCD.

Though, this begs the question: ship with Chrome, or ship with Chromium? If my memory serves me right, Chrome in and of itself is proprietary due to branding, but Chromium is Free Software.

[LeifAndersen]

Canonical has a policy of one application for each task, so they wouldn't install both firefox and chrome. I think that if google were to pay canonical, chrome would be a decent enough browser to be included, so I wouldn't mind too much. (I only read the first page of comments, so I apologize if this is redundant).

[madnessjack]

I've already said this, but the Ubuntu guys (or some other FOSS rock star) should create their own branded version of Chronium. That makes a lot more sense. If you want the Google version, it should be in the restricted repos. Simple as that.

[cascade9]

I've already said this, but the Ubuntu guys (or some other FOSS rock star) should create their own branded version of Chronium. That makes a lot more sense. If you want the Google version, it should be in the restricted repos. Simple as that.

There is already a modded version of chome-


SRWare Iron: The browser of the future - based on the free Sourcecode "Chromium" - without any problems at privacy and security

http://www.srware.net/en/software_srware_iron_download.php

Its not really my thing, I dont like it or Chromium, I'm sticking with Firefox and Opera.

[madnessjack]

I know about SRWare Iron, but the first thing I see when I open a new tab is adverts in the bottom right.

I don't know who SRWare are but if that's their approach then I'm not gonna be overly attracted, to be honest.

[beastrace91]

I couldn't see it happening, Ubuntu's philosophy doesn't include proprietary software far as I know.

Just because it's made by Google doesn't mean its proprietary... Chrome is open source...

~Jeff

[benj1]

interesting question.
my first reaction was having chromium as the default browser would be fine (you can change it if you want after all), although thinking about it, im a firefox user and as soon as chrome gains decent market share and firefox loses market share, google will drop them, which isn't good for firefox, so on balance im against it.

[juancarlospaco]

if google pays to me, is nice, if not, doesnt matter...

[mickie.kext]

Just because it's made by Google doesn't mean its proprietary... Chrome is open source...

~Jeff

Chrome is NOT open source. Chromium is.

I think as long is Chrome closed source, it should not get into Ubuntu.

[cascade9]

I know about SRWare Iron, but the first thing I see when I open a new tab is adverts in the bottom right.

I don't know who SRWare are but if that's their approach then I'm not gonna be overly attracted, to be honest.

Odd, I never had that happen. :S I havent used it on linux for a while, I think its still installed on a winXP machine around here somewhere. Might be an older build. I'll have to try with a newer version and see if I get this same problem.

[madnessjack]

Using build 3.0.197.0 (22047) (probably quite an old build)

[pedja_portugalac]

This is just a thought experiment.

I'm wondering what the rest of the community would think if google paid canonical to make chrome the default browser in ubuntu.

Now I know a lot of you prefer firefox (me too normally) but google pays the mozilla corporation to make their default search engine google, surely some sort of similar arrangement with canonical could also be possible.

Would you accept this type of change, even if it brought some more funds into canonical?


note: chrome will soon be the default on Sony laptops with W7

If google pay canonical to make chrome default browser in ubuntu it will be very nice to support ubuntu development. As long as firefox stays in the ubuntus repository I'll be very happy.

[MaxIBoy]

I wouldn't object too much. Firefox invariably needs updates after the first install, so I end up having to download Firefox (or substantial bits an pieces of it) anyway. Meanwhile it benefits Canonical, which is always a good thing.


I don't think Google would do that until Chrome came out of beta though. And I don't think Canonical would go for it (Firefox as a default was an engineering and user friendliness choice, and having some sponsor overrule the engineers' choices doesn't sound like Canonical to me.)


Also, there already is an Ubuntu remix with Chrome by default. It's called ChromeOS.

[Uncle Spellbinder]

Actually, I'd prefer that Chrome not be default. With all the privacy concerns over Google Chrome, you couldn't pay me use it.

Having said that, I wouldn't force my opinion on anyone, so if it were to ever be the default browser in Ubuntu, I'd simply uninstall it and install a proper browser like SeaMonkey 2.0 and/or Firefox.

[Excedio]

Now I know a lot of you prefer firefox (me too normally) but google pays the mozilla corporation to make their default search engine google, surely some sort of similar arrangement with canonical could also be possible.

I wonder if this may change soon...


Your Rights Online: (http://yro.slashdot.org/tag/yro) Mozilla Exec Urges Switch From Google To Bing (http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/12/11/0541259/Mozilla-Exec-Urges-Switch-From-Google-To-Bing) on Friday December 11, @08:08AM

Andorin writes "Asa Dotzler, Mozilla's director of community development, has published a brief blog post in which he recommends that Firefox users move from using Google (http://weblogs.mozillazine.org/asa/archives/2009/12/if_you_have_nothing.html) as their main search engine to Bing, citing privacy issues. Disregarding the existence of alternative search engines such as Ask and Yahoo, Dotzler asserts that Bing's privacy policy is better than Google's. Dotzler explains the recommendation with a quote from Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google: 'If you have something that you don't want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in the first place. If you really need that kind of privacy, the reality is that search engines — including Google — do retain this information for some time...' Ars Technica also covers the story (http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2009/12/mozilla-exec-urges-firefox-users-ditch-google-for-bing.ars)."

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/12/11/0541259/Mozilla-Exec-Urges-Switch-From-Google-To-Bing

[MaxIBoy]

Firefox should switch to scroogle.

[aysiu]

Wow. That's really rich. I think Microsoft has a couple of good programs. I like Microsoft Office. OneNote is also pretty good. But I don't trust them with my privacy. Please.

First of all, there is no privacy on the internet.

But when search engines were subpoenaedfor user searches (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/20/technology/20google.html), AOL, Yahoo, and MSN gave up the user data in a heartbeat. Google was the only major search engine that did not.

I agree fully with Eric Schmidt about the reality is that search engines — including Google - do retain this information for some time. Google, in this case, is an example of many. Google is not the only search engine that retains information.

Once again, if you want privacy, don't use the internet. Period. But if you ask me whom I trust more? Google over Microsoft any day of the week. Google supports open source. Google doesn't try to lock you into their products with proprietary formats. Hell, you can't even check Hotmail with regular IMAP in Thunderbird!

[RabbitWho]

I think when you install Ubuntu, there should be a ballot that pops up and asks you which browser you want to use.

Ditto for every single OS.

Most people don't know what a browser is, so I think Firefox and IE would share dominance.. Firefox because it has a cool name and a cute icon and IE becauce people will say... "explore the internet.. yes.. that's what i want to do. . . I don't enjoy Opera music and my favorite colour is blue, not green."
There are so many problems that people who use IE have that they don't even realise are related to their browser. They think their internet or their computer is bad.. it's so tragic. :(

[MaxIBoy]

These are totally valid concerns, RabbitWho, but the reason why defaults exist is because otherwise, you need to play 20 questions with the installer, and that is very annoying.


The best solution for me is to install nothing by default and let you apt-get install whatever you need, but of course not everyone will go for that. That's why there is a minimal install option and a standard install option, and the choice to pick whichever one you want.

[Jr.Muffin]

Firefox is fine. If it's not broken, don't try and fix it.

If anyone wants to install Chrome, then they can. No reason to default Chrome as Firefox works fine for most people.

[madnessjack]

Firefox is fine. If it's not broken, don't try and fix it.

Yeah... but you could say that about IE6. It browses the Internet after all :P

[aysiu]

Yeah... but you could say that about IE6. It browses the Internet after all :P
IE6 was broken, for sure. It was the primary catalyst for my exploring other browsers (Opera and Firefox).

Doesn't IE6 not even have tabs? I think tabs were introduced in IE7...

[squilookle]

IE 6 is very broken.

I still have to develop for it at work, and there are many strange quirks,

gaps under images if you close the div in the wrong place, text getting repeated further down the page if you have a comment between two divs...

Going back to the question: it's not a black and white issue but I probably wouldn't accept it, although I would not be furious either. I would just install Firefox (I dont use Firefox from the repos - I like to have the latest version so I always have to download it anyway):

I like to see Ubuntu do well, and I have nothing against them recieving extra funding. However, I like to see Mozilla and Firefox do well, and if Chrome was included as the default browser, I would not like to see Mozilla/Firefox lose many as a result, and they would because most of their money comes from the Google searches conducted from the search bar in Firefox: and if Chrome is the default, less people are searching through Firefox...

I have nothing against Chrome. I tried it on Windows a while back and for me, the interface was too simple/dumbed down. But the browser was nice and fast, I liked the Opera style quick dial, and the combined address/search bar is good.

I have no plans to change from Firefox, mostly die to Familiarity and No Script.

I use the Android web browser on my phone and am also happy with that.

[madnessjack]

IE6 was broken, for sure[..]

Doesn't IE6 not even have tabs? I think tabs were introduced in IE7...
You miss my point :P
It browses the Internet. In that respect it isn't broken. Windows Explorer doesn't have tabs but it certainly ain't broken.
</offtopic>

[aysiu]

You miss my point :P
It browses the Internet. In that respect it isn't broken. Windows Explorer doesn't have tabs but it certainly ain't broken.
</offtopic> You miss my point.

A browser without tabs is broken.

If my browser basically suits my needs, another browser that suits my needs isn't going to necessarily make me switch over. But if my current browser does not suit my needs, it is broken, and the fix is to get a new browser.

In that respect, IE6 is broken. It didn't do what I needed a web browser to do. Firefox did.

[vishzilla]

To web devs, IE6 is definitely broken

[madnessjack]

In that respect, IE6 is broken. It didn't do what I needed a web browser to do. Firefox did.
That's a very good point, very true. I too would feel lost without tabs.

I was just being pedantic. As a web-dev I'm fed up of people moaning because a browser doesn't have all the bells and whistles. Ultimately a browser displays web-pages. When I design websites, I make sure they're accessible to phones, text-to-speech and old browsers, because at the time, they we're very hot and ultimately they do the job they're advertise - browse the web. IE6 was very sufficient in it's hay day, it just aged pathetically from our more experienced perspective.

If folks still want to use it, let them, it's their choice. It can render text can't it? Surely that's basically all we need to create a decent web-page? :P

[HappinessNow]

This is just a thought experiment.

I'm wondering what the rest of the community would think if google paid canonical to make chrome the default browser in ubuntu.

Now I know a lot of you prefer firefox (me too normally) but google pays the mozilla corporation to make their default search engine google, surely some sort of similar arrangement with canonical could also be possible.

Would you accept this type of change, even if it brought some more funds into canonical?


note: chrome will soon be the default on Sony laptops with W7Would never happen. Canonical/Ubuntu is too small of a fry for Google to care...

[mivo]

Wow. That's really rich. I think Microsoft has a couple of good programs. I like Microsoft Office. OneNote is also pretty good. But I don't trust them with my privacy. Please.

I don't see Microsoft collecting information on the forums here, but I do see Cannonical and Google collecting data via google-analytics, which many privacy experts seem to be quite concerned about ("google" for it).

Microsoft isn't in the business of making money with usage-related information. Google is, and each of their services is aimed at collecting more.

[gnomeuser]

Why only 2 defaults? Ubuntu could install several and let the user choose.

I can think of: Firefox, Chrome, Chromium, Epiphany, Opera, Konqueror, w3m, Lynx, maybe IE via Wine...

Any more for any more?

No really, I can't think of a single reason why that might be a bad idea.

[23meg]

If it were possible under Ubuntu's governance and development policies for an arbitrary company to get its application into Ubuntu through payment, most of Ubuntu's current developers and other dedicated contributors would quit right away. It would not possible to maintain a healthy community of contributors in a setting where their labor, preferences and the policies and criteria they've produced over the years for choice and maintenance of software can be violated for money.

Thankfully, it isn't, and will almost certainly never be.

[ukripper]

note: chrome will soon be the default on Sony laptops with W7

Source?

[mivo]

Source?

Probably this article (http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Search-Engines/Google-Confirms-Chrome-Web-Browser-is-Bundled-on-Sony-Laptops-728597/) and spin-offs.