While I agree this shouldn't be seen as some sort of conspiracy, there are a few things I want to comment on:
1) This shouldn't happen in the first place. ubuntu.com is not ad supported, and neither should the OS. Canonical makes its money through support services and should not need the ad revenue. If for some reason they do, a formal statement needs to be released 2) This is kind of sneaky to put in to the motd 3) Regardless of where it's coming from, ubuntu.com is the domain. That's where the onus lay. -- You received this bug notification because you are a member of Ubuntu Touch seeded packages, which is subscribed to base-files in Ubuntu. https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1701068 Title: motd.ubuntu.com currently shows media item (HBO's Silicon Valley using Ubuntu) Status in base-files package in Ubuntu: Triaged Bug description: In Ubuntu 17.04 or newer, there is a script at /etc/update-motd.d/50 -motd-news that reads https://motd.ubuntu.com/ and displays that text with the rest of the MOTD. Currently, https://motd.ubuntu.com shows a news item about HBO's Silicon Valley which has a reference to Ubuntu. Instead, https://motd.ubuntu.com should show relevant items to those that use Ubuntu Server (relevant security issues, etc), instead of items for desktop users. ============================= Welcome to Ubuntu 17.04 (GNU/Linux 4.10.0-21-generic x86_64) * Documentation: https://help.ubuntu.com * Management: https://landscape.canonical.com * Support: https://ubuntu.com/advantage * How HBO's Silicon Valley built "Not Hotdog" with mobile TensorFlow, Keras & React Native on Ubuntu - https://ubu.one/HBOubu ============================== ProblemType: Bug DistroRelease: Ubuntu 17.04 Package: base-files 9.6ubuntu13 ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 4.10.0-24.28-generic 4.10.15 Uname: Linux 4.10.0-24-generic x86_64 ApportVersion: 2.20.4-0ubuntu4 Architecture: amd64 Date: Wed Jun 28 12:31:24 2017 InstallationDate: Installed on 2017-05-02 (56 days ago) InstallationMedia: Xubuntu 17.04 "Zesty Zapus" - Release amd64 (20170412) ProcEnviron: TERM=xterm-256color PATH=(custom, no user) XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set> LANG=en_US.UTF-8 SHELL=/bin/bash SourcePackage: base-files UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install) To manage notifications about this bug go to: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/base-files/+bug/1701068/+subscriptions -- Mailing list: https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages Post to : touch-packages@lists.launchpad.net Unsubscribe : https://launchpad.net/~touch-packages More help : https://help.launchpad.net/ListHelp