Lots of commentators are saying this is taking a page out of Mozilla's playbook (Mozilla has a deal with Google). But Mozilla wasn't the first to strike such a deal, and as Canonical has shown, it won't be the last:
The next release of Ubuntu will scrap Google as the default search engine on its Firefox browser in favor of Yahoo!, thanks to a new revenue-sharing deal between Yahoo! and commercial Ubuntu backer Canonical.
With regulators set to approve Yahoo!'s search pact with Microsoft, this means that Redmond will power the future of Firefox on Ubuntu, a combination with decidedly anti-Redmond connotations. The ultimate irony is that Microsoft will essentially be paying people to build a Linux distro.
Canonical's Rick Spencer announced the Yahoo! revenue deal on Tuesday, with a post to the Ubuntu developer mailing list.
Microsoft has likewise struck deals to make Bing the default search engine on certain devices (Verizon smartphones come to mind) and applications. Bing is also featured in a recurring segment on the soon-to-be-retired Jay Leno Show.
It's a bit odd that Canonical is doing a deal with Yahoo, which is basically turning over its search R&D to Microsoft and allowing Bing to power its search engine. But maybe Canonical's folks felt that dealing directly with Microsoft (which also makes Windows) just wasn't an option. Whatever. At least they're ditching Google. Next step: Quit collaborating with the Monster of Mountain View on its forthcoming Chrome operating system Big Brother portal.