ubuntu-sucks.com

[books]

I was tonight doing research for a paper on the Internet meme of domains in the form [productname]sucks, [companyname]sucks, and similar.

This URL format has become a shorthand way in which people in Net culture can know they can find a site critical of some product or company or similar.

So if I want to find views critical of Ebay, I know that it is highly likely I'll find them by merely typing ebaysucks.com - and as the link shows, it is so.

I discovered that Canonnical, Ubuntu's parent company, owns the ubuntu-sucks and ubuntusucks domains. The sites redirect to the official bug report page.

I've been an Ubuntu fan for quite a while now, but I was shocked when I discovered this. I'm wondering if others find this a troubling as I do. For an organization said to be strong advocates of free and freedom, this seems quite ugly, heavy-handed and suppressive.

To show how this [productname]sucks, [companyname]sucks format has become a very widespread shorthand way for people to find criticism of a company or product, here's a sampling of some active domains:

mac-sucks.com

microsoftsucks.org

whylinuxsucks.org

paypalsucks.com

oreilly-sucks.com

disney-sucks.com

allstateinsurancesucks.com

peta-sucks.com

lowes-sucks.com

glenn-beck-sucks.com

chase-sucks.com

[elija]

It also shows a company with a sense of humour which is prepared to say

OK then smartarse, you tell us how it sucks and we will make it less sucky!

None of the others do that, and if the target company does get hold of it, the site usually gets shut down pronto.

[bigtomrodney]

I've been an Ubuntu fan for quite a while now, but I was shocked when I discovered this. I'm wondering if others find this a troubling as I do. For an organization said to be strong advocates of free and freedom, this seems quite ugly, heavy-handed and suppressive.

I don't even know where to start with this. Are you serious?
Can you explain to me

• How this suppresses anything, when criticism is not limited to this domain
• How this is heavy handed, when it does not limit anything
• How you find it "troubling"

I'll tell you what, there are still earthquake survivors in need of care in Haiti and Chile. There are people falsely-imprisoned around the world and there are still people starving in Africa and other parts of the third world. If you want to make the world a better place you could start with a real problem instead of making one up.

The *-sucks domains are largely either troll-sites or non-productive rants. They are a fine example of an overpowering minority where one person or a small group elevate themselves above their due platform to admonish their opinion on a product or group. If you find it easier to find out if and why such-and-such a product sucks by checking this type of domain instead of using the product, using a search engine or doing your own research then I don't think you'd be suitably qualified to make this type of decision anyway.

Nice troll, better try for something more believable next time.

[elija]

I don't even know where to start with this. Are you serious?
Can you explain to me

• How this suppresses anything, when criticism is not limited to this domain
• How this is heavy handed, when it does not limit anything
• How you find it "troubling"

I'll tell you what, there are still earthquake survivors in need of care in Haiti and Chile. There are people falsely-imprisoned around the world and there are still people starving in Africa and other parts of the third world. If you want to make the world a better place you could start with a real problem instead of making one up.

The *-sucks domains are largely either troll-sites or non-productive rants. They are a fine example of an overpowering minority where one person or a small group elevate themselves above their due platform to admonish their opinion on a product or group. If you find it easier to find out if and why such-and-such a product sucks by checking this type of domain instead of using the product, using a search engine or doing your own research then I don't think you'd be suitably qualified to make this type of decision anyway.

Nice troll, better try for something more believable next time.

Dammit! My trolldar needs a reboot

[Rubberman]

To quote the Great Monty Python, "Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, eggs, and Spam!"...