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I have seen search results coming up for this site on Google and other search engines. I mostly ignored it because it doesn't add anything substantial — nothing at all – from my point of view for people who know where to find information about packages and related data. I would even consider it harmful for all the other people. It looks like an elaborate hoax to sell ads!

I know there are some sites run by people in the community which provide a valuable resource to the infrastructure like ubuntuwire.com, but this doesn't appear to be the case for ubuntuupdates.org. Can someone shine some light on this? (There appears to be no valid TLS cert or useful info on the about page.)

As I said I consider this site misleading and thereby harmful, the links on AskUbuntu should be replaced with equivalent official sources. I have no problem doing this myself for the 17 results I just found and where I can, but I though it would be better to discuss it first.

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    Interesting question. I can't vote in favour or against that site, but to me it doesn't look malicious. It seems to just be kind of a search engine or list for all available packages in all official repositories and all Launchpad PPAs. I can't verify the correctness of the information there, but I wouldn't call that site bad just because of the tiny ad tile in the top right corner of the page.
    – Byte Commander Mod
    Commented Dec 23, 2016 at 22:04
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    I don't understand the problem, why would you consider the site "harmful"? As far as I can tell, it's just an aggregator and the download links point to the official Ubuntu repositories. For example, the download link given on ubuntuupdates.org/package/core/yakkety/main/proposed/… points to security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/pool/main/n/network-manager/…. So if someone happens to like the looks of this page, why not give it as a link?
    – terdon Mod
    Commented Dec 24, 2016 at 11:30
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    @Wilf It's just you ;)
    – LiveWireBT
    Commented Dec 28, 2016 at 19:38
  • Related on main: Is UbuntuUpdates.org a trustworthy source for downloads
    – Eliah Kagan
    Commented Jan 8, 2017 at 8:12

1 Answer 1

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I don't see the issue here, it was already pointed out that it simply links the default repos, so I won't go over that.

As far as I can tell, it is just a facelift for the default repos, it may not be to everyone’s taste but for newer users, it is great as it has big icons to click, you can do an apt install, get the debs and look for bug fixes, just compare these pages

Ubuntu Updates

Ubuntu.com

The Ubuntu.com link is much more complex, while the big buttons and bright colours of Ubuntu Updates is aimed at less technical users.

I simply can't see how it is "harmful", you say it adds nothing and sure, for you, it adds nothing, you understand the repos and how to use them but for those less experienced, it would be a great starting point.

I had to downvote you because you offer nothing to back up your claims about the site and this just reads as "I don't like this, so don't use it".

While I too can't seem to find the owners, I found their Twitter account and it has been running since 2012, has over a thousand followers and constantly updates it's content, I see no evidence this is not "run by people in the community which provide a valuable resource to the infrastructure" and all their followers would agree, I am sure.

The questions linking this, should NOT be changed, I have used and linked it myself with no issue or complaints.

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