ad/spyware query

[wes]

hello all.

i am currently a user of ubuntu 10.04 LTS.  in a matter of months that
release will no longer be supported by canonical, and i am shopping
around for another free-software operating system to use.

i understand that recent changes to ubuntu conflate (by default) local
and web searches performed with certain applications, and intersperse
web results from amazon in their output.

i find this massively disturbing. in my view, it is a flagrant
violation of implict free-software principles (if not the explicit
ones as well), and under no circumstances will i be using ubuntu in
the future for that reason.

furthermore, i am now highly suspicious of canonical's integrity as a
distributer of free software.

and so, regarding lubuntu, i have the following questions.

1. do current releases of lubuntu incorporate these changes as well?

2. what are the lubuntu developer's attitudes on these changes?

3. who hosts lubuntu's repositories?

i will appreciate any replies to this question, preferably on-list
because this is a matter of concern to the free software community.

thank you for your time.

cheers,
wes