> It's a search box that many people will use exclusively to search for _local_ content.
That still doesn't make it a privacy violation, since you know where your searches are going (as does any other user, since it's obvious based on the results).
> Why should Amazon know what programs and files I'm using?
It makes the normal user's life more convenient since he doesn't need to figure out which box to type something in. You think that's ridiculous? Users are well known for typing web addresses into any box available. They cannot tell the difference. Having a single box for everything makes for a better experience,.
Amazon doesn't know what programs and files you're using, since Canonical anonymizes it. If you don't like it, or you don't trust Canonical, and you still want to use the "search everything" search box, then adjust the settings to do what you want.
I don't think its a privacy violation, and Canonical has been open about their actions, but I think it's a crummy setup.
On my mac, both spotlight and alfred (the 3rd-party application launcher I use) are capable of searching both my computer and the web, and neither send my file searches to the internet.
crummy setup... oh come on, on your mac spotlight is a bloody binary program and you have no way to check the sources. And you critizice the default configuration of an open source program?
Don't need to see the source, just need to watch the network traffic. The source wouldn't be any additional help anyway, unless you compile it yourself again with a known good compiler on a known good system fresh from read only media.
> It's a search box that many people will use exclusively to search for _local_ content.
You're using the wrong search box if you want to search exclusively for local content. Try hitting Super-A, Super-F or clicking on the applications or files tabs to search locally.
Why should Amazon know what programs and files I'm using?