Why do I need a ubuntu one account to download apps

[fdcvgdfvshfdg]

While the usual tradition of linux distributions is to have repositories accessible to anyone, why do I need to have a ubuntu one account in order to download apps on the ubuntu store? While ubuntu has until now been very strong into providing open alternatives to mainline products, e.g. from microsoft or apple, this requirement is a serious threat to the open philosophy. I can't see any technical difficulty into not having accounts on the server side, and I am very worried about this.

[grahammechanical]

Imagine. You have a Ubuntu phone. You want to purchase an app from the Ubuntu phone app store. And you are able to do so without a Ubuntu One Account. Then you change devices to a Ubuntu tablet and you want the apps that you purchased on the new device. But it cannot happen. You will have to pay for them again because there is no record of you having purchase those apps.

How did you register for this forum? Do you login using a Ubuntu One account? I do. I have also installed Ubuntu Desktop Next which is the Ubuntu phone OS running on my x86 desktop machine. I can use my Ubuntu One account to access the app store. I only need to sign in once.

If in future I purchase a Ubuntu phone or a Ubuntu tablet I can use my existing Ubuntu One account to access the app store, download free apps, purchase paid for apps and have those paid for apps installed on other Ubuntu devices such my desktop install when Ubuntu convergence is complete and the app store and the apps in it are available for Ubuntu desktop without having to pay a second time.

I see no problem with this and I do not agree with your conclusion that needing a Ubuntu One Signal Sign On account is a serious threat to the open philosophy. Your post is your first post on this forum but you have to register. You do not seem so worried about having confidential details about you stored on some server as you make out. Otherwise you would not be posting on forums like. Which by the way, show up on internet search engines.

I conclude that you are a troll.

Goodbye.

[fdcvgdfvshfdg]

First of all, thank you for having taken the time to answer.

I will start by answering the last part of your message. I indeed created a ubuntu one account to post my message here, but if you pay a bit of attention I put a false name and a temporary e-mail address. That is because I am indeed worried about putting my personal data on servers on which I have no control. The message I type here indeed shows up on search engines, however, as I said above I'm not using my real name or email address, and so there is no link to my real identity. I fully consent to have my writtings here accessible to everyone, however I don't want my identity to be accessible to everyone.

Concerning your argument about payed apps, I agree that it is practical and I don't want this feature to be removed, however it should be an option that anyone is free to choose or not. Offering the possibility to use an account and benefit from some features is ok, however requiring every user to have an account while it is technically avoidable is a restriction of the user's freedom. And yes, this is a serious threat to the open philosophy.

And no, I'm not a troll.

[Elfy]

But if you've got some random name and a temp e-mail address and you then get an issue in the future with something to do with purchases - you'll get nowhere when trying to sort that out - they'll try and contact you at the temp address

[fdcvgdfvshfdg]

The problem here is not wether one should create a dummy account or not. What I am saying is that if I don't purchase apps, but only download free ones, then there is no technical reason why I need to have an account. Today I bypass it by creating dummy accounts but it is another debate. The real problem here is that this system requires people to put personal data online while there is absolutely no technical reason for it.

[mooreted]

A couple of things:

You don't have to use the app store at all, you can install Synaptic and do it the old-fashioned way or you can install from the command line as long as you know the name.

If you want something more open, free, private, etc. you might want to consider something like Debian.

[coldraven]

A couple of things:

You don't have to use the app store at all, you can install Synaptic and do it the old-fashioned way or you can install from the command line as long as you know the name.

If you want something more open, free, private, etc. you might want to consider something like Debian.

+1, I always install Synaptic and use it to search for and install applications. It's good for discovering things that you never knew existed and it's faster than the Software Centre. No registration or personal info is needed .

[fdcvgdfvshfdg]

A couple of things:

You don't have to use the app store at all, you can install Synaptic and do it the old-fashioned way or you can install from the command line as long as you know the name.

If you want something more open, free, private, etc. you might want to consider something like Debian.

I would be perfectly happy with synaptics, however from what I found out when using the emulator, it is not possible under ubuntu touch... Or maybe I missed something?

The debian way would be nice too, indeed, however did someone ever manage to get debian working on a phone? I mean, not something with a bug every minute because the hardware is unsupported yet.

If it wasn't clear from my first message, I'm talking about ubuntu touch running on a phone (typically on the bq phone that went on sale a few days ago).

[mooreted]

Well, running on a phone is a whole other matter. There may be a way to install Ubuntu on the phone with command-line and repository access. I'm sure some geek will figure it out. Debian supports a lot of architectures, someone smart enough might figure that one out too. It's still early days, I'm sure we'll find ways to tweak phones and tablets as time goes on as long as they keep the platform open.

[fdcvgdfvshfdg]

Ok now I realize it was unclear in my first message.
What I am talking about is "ubuntu touch", which is the os developed by canonical for mobile devices. The same os that is shipped on bq phones since a few days only, see here: https://insights.ubuntu.com/2015/02/...ur-fingertips/.
You can try this os by installing the package ubuntu-emulator. That's what I did, and it seems like we have no access to synaptics, but only to the ubuntu store, which requires an account, and that's what frightens me. Canonical managed to build a fully-working os built on ubuntu for smartphones which is a great thing, but it seems to have completely lost the open philosophy of ubuntu.
I encourage everyone to try it using ubuntu-emulator and give feed back on this, and I would really like the people from canonical and the ubuntu developpers to clarify this: is it possible on ubuntu touch to get back the control of the device? Is it possible to remove the default apps like facebook, twitter and others using a simple "apt-get" like technique?
Moreover, if some day I want to download an app (let's say a free one), will I be required to use the ubuntu store with an account? Won't I be able to simply download it with an "apt-get"-like command? Will I need to provide an e-mail adress and a name to download that free app?