The automatic in-app recommendations I get in the Ubuntu Software Center are just plain odd. I have only installed one game (OpenTTD) and the rest of the applications that I have installed are purely software development and debugging centric. I have installed VMware (visualization), Evolution (groupware), and Plex (media center server). I have also uninstalled a few of the default applications, add-ons, and Unity Lenses that I would never use.
The recommendations I get for my account are exclusively for applications that I have already installed, applications that are instaleld by default (even the ones I have chosen to uninstall), graphic design; typesetting; and photo tools, and weird games I have never heard of and that does not look interesting.
How are these recommendations intended to work? Are they not personal (they only appear after logging into my account so I assume they are personal)? and how can I improve them? I have rated a good chunk of applications without that seeming to have any effect on this.
For example Amazon has this page you can go to to rate the suggested products to help improve the recommendations you will get in the future. Is there such a thing on the user side?
How does the rating mechanism work? (and where do I find it/can contribute improvements to it?)
The pieces that conform the Recommendations feature can be viewed in the blue print registered to track its development in the 12.04 cycle. In a nutshell, it’s a server-side recommendations algorithm (Launchpad project) that sends data to the Software Center so it can display apps that you’re likely to give a good rating.
This feature is specificated in detail here. Unfortunately, the specification is not fully implemented in Software Center. You can help by filing bug reports on every issue you may find, against the
software-centerpackage.