> sending search terms typed into a search box to a search engine is pretty much what people expect. Ubuntu does it.
And Canonical has received a barrage of flak for it as a result. I outright stopped using Ubuntu as a result. Users expect the search box on their computer to search their own computer, not bombard them with ads.
> GNOME does it.
By default? Which distro? Last I checked, the GNOME search tool is limited to local objects. Maybe if you've explicitly integrated an online account, but I've yet to encounter that if that's the case.
> Android does it. iOS does it.
These systems aren't nearly as oriented around local file access, so the online-first approach for search (while I personally disagree with it) is not as jarring. Siri and Google Now are specifically marketed for online searches as well.
> OS X does it.
Again, by default? Because I've yet to actually see online results when searching for things in, say, Finder. Not that I wouldn't hold it above Apple to pull such shenanigans, of course; they love fucking over their users for the sake of a "more beautiful" (please) product.
> Windows is very nearly the last one to do it.
Hardly. None of the BSDs (that I know of) do it - even the desktop-oriented ones like PC-BSD. None of the KDE-based GNU/Linux distros (again, that I know of) do it - that category includes Kubuntu, openSUSE, and quite a few others. KDE itself certainly doesn't do it, nor do LXDE or Xfce, last I checked, and nor do the distros which use those particular DEs by default. I'm pretty sure none of the GNOME-based distros do it; in particular, I'd be very surprised if Debian stooped anywhere close to such a level of depravity.
> Again, by default? Because I've yet to actually see online results when searching for things in, say, Finder. Not that I wouldn't hold it above Apple to pull such shenanigans, of course; they love fucking over their users for the sake of a "more beautiful" (please) product.
PC-BSD certainly is. openSUSE arguably is (while it has quite a few enterprise features, it has plenty of consumer features, too, especially when paired with KDE or GNOME). Kubuntu certainly is. KDE certainly is.
And we haven't even gotten into the other consumer-oriented operating systems that don't compromise privacy to the same degree as Ubuntu+Unity, iOS, Android, or (now) Windows. I haven't even mentioned Linux Mint (with Cinnamon, MATE, KDE, or Xfce), which is certainly consumer-oriented (it sure as hell ain't enterprise-oriented, in my experience). Then there's ElementaryOS, PCLinuxOS, Mepis, Vector, GhostBSD, AmigaOS, RISC OS... the list goes on. Said list goes on even further once you factor in some more experimental - yet still designed to be consumer-oriented - systems, like Haiku and ReactOS. As far as I know, zero entries on this here list have fallen into the trap of siphoning user data by default.
GNOME searches whatever you want it to, but they heavily advertise integration with online sources as a feature. OS X Spotlight does online by default. Finder and Windows Explorer search local files. I said very nearly since, although they're great, BSD, KDE, etc. have very few users.
I'm not arguing that having control over your computer is important. I think people should be using exclusively free software, but it's really hard to sell them on that. Just about the only thing going for it is honesty and consistency. I'm worried that if people start exaggerating issues and get exposed for it, the free software side will lose credibility.
> GNOME searches whatever you want it to, but they heavily advertise integration with online sources as a feature.
Right, and so does KDE (to an extent), but I don't recall either actually using those online sources for searches. Maybe GNOME3's managed to get worse since last time I tried it, however ;)
> OS X Spotlight does online by default.
TIL. I guess I don't use Spotlight enough to notice...
> but it's really hard to sell them on that.
It depends on the approach. I've managed to get quite a few people switched over to openSUSE (for example) on the simple grounds of "your Windows XP machine can't handle Windows 7 very well; here's something better that will save you the cost of a Windows license and the cost of upgrading your machine and won't slow down after a few months of use".
And Canonical has received a barrage of flak for it as a result. I outright stopped using Ubuntu as a result. Users expect the search box on their computer to search their own computer, not bombard them with ads.
> GNOME does it.
By default? Which distro? Last I checked, the GNOME search tool is limited to local objects. Maybe if you've explicitly integrated an online account, but I've yet to encounter that if that's the case.
> Android does it. iOS does it.
These systems aren't nearly as oriented around local file access, so the online-first approach for search (while I personally disagree with it) is not as jarring. Siri and Google Now are specifically marketed for online searches as well.
> OS X does it.
Again, by default? Because I've yet to actually see online results when searching for things in, say, Finder. Not that I wouldn't hold it above Apple to pull such shenanigans, of course; they love fucking over their users for the sake of a "more beautiful" (please) product.
> Windows is very nearly the last one to do it.
Hardly. None of the BSDs (that I know of) do it - even the desktop-oriented ones like PC-BSD. None of the KDE-based GNU/Linux distros (again, that I know of) do it - that category includes Kubuntu, openSUSE, and quite a few others. KDE itself certainly doesn't do it, nor do LXDE or Xfce, last I checked, and nor do the distros which use those particular DEs by default. I'm pretty sure none of the GNOME-based distros do it; in particular, I'd be very surprised if Debian stooped anywhere close to such a level of depravity.