Ironically, just read an article recently about this exact issue.
The article: https://www.linuxteck.com/ubuntu-trust-problem-2026/
The best part of Ubuntu was improving Debian. In the beginning, Debian was a bit ugly and difficult. Ubuntu was competition, and perhaps resources (IDK) directly or indirectly. Debian is much easier to use than it was when Ubuntu was new.
Ubuntu is taking the RedHat approach (over complicating so that one must buy the support).
the malware one happens in most repos at some point, but the rest is why i dont use ubuntu.
Yes, that is not just OS repos. There have been plenty of cases with PIP and NPM hosting malware.
automatically attaching snaps to apt is pretty much the one reason why I’ll never use Ubuntu. and now I find out here that they put damn ads in the terminal for “Ubuntu Pro”? oh get fucked Canonical.
Friends don’t let Friends install Ubuntu.
Even Microsoft hasn’t put ads in the terminal I think.
My main home server runs Ubuntu - I installed it 15-20 years ago and it’s grown into a monster. I’ve been slowly documenting everything so I can reinstall with Debian. Have to up the priority of that project.
Debian is so nice as a server OS. It’s also a great alternative for WSL if you’re forced to use a Windows computer.
And they’ve tied the dependency tree together such that you can’t disable them without entirely breaking updates.
If anyone else would rather read text as text: https://www.linuxteck.com/ubuntu-trust-problem-2026/
Appreciate it as a mobile user!
. . . and it all boils down to “Canonical being into rent-seeking and having weird NIH issues that make it push low-quality own software (snaps in the current iteration, but there have been others) over better solutions used by other distros.”
This is great info, thank you for sharing!
Strong agree. I use a derivative that blocks snaps instead of direct Kubuntu now, and it wasn’t Just because of the snaps.
Maybe it was just me, but Kubuntu was also the least stable distro I’ve tried on my gaming laptop. Constant crashes and random reboots.
I’ve had zero issues with Mint.
I use a derivative
Without Ubuntu Pro subscription the entire Universe repository does not receive any security updates by Canonical:
https://canonical.com/blog/ubuntu-pro-enhanced-security-and-manageability-for-linux-desktop
You should consider switching to an entirely independent distribution that does not lock security updates behind a paywall, perhaps something based directly on Debian or Fedora.
Ubuntu Pro is free for personal use on up to five machines.
Also note that Universe is the community-maintained repository, sort of like the AUR but the community also reviews package creations. The Main repository is maintained by the Ubuntu Project and has always had free security updates.
Ubuntu Pro is free for personal use on up to five machines.
If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product.
Debian is free for any use for an unlimited number of machines without corporate tracking which packages you install.
If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product.
Debian is free for any use for an unlimited number of machines without corporate tracking which packages you install.
So I guess with Debian, you are the product.
Debian is a community, not a product.
Interesting. I can use a community for my OS? So every time I hear someone say “install debian”, they’re telling me to install a community?
Either way, it’s free, so I’m still the product.
I can use a community for my OS?
Debian is a community.
Debian GNU/Linux is a non-commercial Linux distribution, ergo not a product.
Novel got Suse pretty stable now too. I’m still a Fedora fan but it’s an option.
Update: Correction. While you do get five years of security updates for Universe on an Ubuntu LTS, those are updates done by the ubuntu community, not canonical. To get Universe security updates from Canonical, you do have to sign up to Ubuntu pro, which can be done without any payment, but as I describe in my original comment, does require creating an account.
While Canonical deserves the criticisms leveled by op (that I agree with), it’s also incorrect to say that they lock security updated behind a paywall.
Anyone that does use Ubuntu gets security updated until they stop supporting that particular release version, which iirc is for six years (I may be wrong, thus is from memory).
If you want extended security updates for a specific version of the os, you can elect to sign up to Ubuntu pro without paying any money. You do have to make an account, and if you so choose you can populate the account info with garbage info and a disposable email, and you’ll get extended security updates for that release version.
While Canonical deserves the criticisms leveled by op (that I agree with), it’s also incorrect to say that they lock security updated behind a paywall.
Anyone that does use Ubuntu gets security updated until they stop supporting that particular release version, which iirc is for six years (I may be wrong, thus is from memory).
I quoted the relevant part and yet you still don’t understand that Universe is explicitly not covered by security support by Canonical without Ubuntu Pro.
you can elect to sign up to Ubuntu pro without paying any money
you can elect to sign up to Ubuntu pro without paying any money
Yes, home users can sign up for Ubuntu Pro for free which means repository access is tracked on an account level. How isn’t this more shitty than for example plain Debian?
Debian also doesn’t offer security upgrades for contrib and non-free.
Only main is officially supported.Same as Ubuntu, security upgrades for additional repos are handled by the community, not the distro maintainers themselves.
Debian also doesn’t offer security upgrades for contrib and non-free. Only main is officially supported.
So Fedora and openSUSE are most superior. OK.
Ah. Both misunderstood what you were saying and was uninformed. My apologies. Editing my original comment to reflect that.
Drink your verification can to install security updates.
lock security updates behind a paywall
Saying this is like screaming “I don’t know anything about Ubuntu except that I hate it!!!”
Saying this is like screaming “I don’t know anything about Ubuntu except that I hate it!!!”
I posted a screenshot from Ubuntu’s own blog. So they hate themselves and lie to the world?
The updates available through Ubuntu Pro wouldn’t have normally been available prior to Pro. It’s an added service, not something that was previously available that is now locked behind a paywall. There are plenty of reasons to not like Canonical but this isn’t one.
It’s an added service, not something that was previously available that is now locked behind a paywall.
I didn’t say anything about it having changed, so your “now” is disingenuous. Fact is, update support by Canonical for Universe is locked behind Ubuntu Pro. Non-Ubuntu distributions such as CachyOS/Fedora/Bazzite/openSUSE/Debian/… don’t have this hostile behaviour.
They also don’t provide those updates. I am a Fedora guy by the way. I’m not defending Canonical, just pointing out that this is a silly reason to dislike them.
They also don’t provide those updates.
Fedora allows all updates that do not break compatibility. To update packages in Universe means adhering to overly zealous version number freeze policy, whereas leaf packages in Fedora can be updates without much fuss. I contributed a small number (only two or three) of updates to Fedora packages years ago. Nothing was a core package, only tiny stand-alone utilities, so the stuff that would be in Universe under Ubuntu, but they had new version numbers. Updates were accepted by the maintainers without much trouble.
I am a Fedora guy by the way.
So you should know that I’m right.
Right, but if you’re after the level of “stability” that Canonical is offering, where are you getting it for free? Maybe there is another place but none that I’m aware of. I think it is perfectly fine for them to charge for that, especially if enterprise customers are the target audience and those who aren’t don’t have to pay for it.
Right, but if you’re after the level of “stability” that Canonical is offering, where are you getting it for free?
Fedora, Alma Linux, openSUSE Leap, LMDE,…
What’s a better alternative that uses apt and KDE and has relatively up-to-date packages (other than Debian testing)?
Debian Sid!
uses apt
May I ask why you seem to be married to the use of
apt?Just couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to insert this banger.Linux mint Debian Edition, and just install KDE yourself ig, otherwise MX linux KDE
What’s wrong with Debian?
I already know about it, so there’s no need to tell me.
Fair enough.
There’s also Pop and Mint, though I don’t know if their update model differs from Ubuntu at all.
But if you’re already familiar with Debian, why not use it? It’s widely recommended for a reason, it’s hard to beat.
Pop!_OS uses COSMIC (a modified GNOME), not KDE.
Linux Mint uses Cinnamon (a modified GNOME 3) or MATE (a modified GNOME 2), not KDE.
The answer to “why not Debian” is that I try to install Debian first every time, but if it doesn’t work for whatever reason I grab Kubuntu instead of trying to troubleshoot it. 3 of the 4 desktop computers I’ve tried to install Linux on lately ended up with Kubuntu instead of Debian.
(For my personal desktop that tends to have a bleeding-edge graphics card at the time of building/installing, that’s understandable. For the other computers, for other members of my family who don’t need the latest and greatest, Debian’s failure to support several-year-old hardware – at least in the installation environment, without fiddling – was less forgivable.)
I’m sure you can install KDE on either of those.
I’m surprised Debian doesn’t Just Work for you though. I recently converted my laptop and desktop and had no issues.
Debian should be great on old hardware too. Longevity is part of their mission. The installation environent might be a bit tricky if you have really old or uncommon hardware, but in those cases I just pick the text installer, which has much fewer dependencies.
Fedora offers apt. AFAIK not by default, so it has to be installed via dnf first but then it’s available.
It’s been like that for years.
It’s maintained by my hardware OEM (Tuxedo) and I’m not even sure it has Universe - most things are flatpaks.
I’m not even sure it has Universe
I strongly suggest looking it up.
deleted by creator
i still have a server running ubuntu
i run snaps on it ewwwww!
it has never fucked me over
Snap is the cancer of Linux. Go work for Micro$lop if you like to disrespect users.
is it just me or does especially the text read AI-generated?
arch
bow and arrow
is this from another dimension?
Is .gif different there?
All symbols are wrong, but in ways that oddly make sense:
- Mint - it’s a leaf.
- Fedora - it’s a wearable.
- Debian - the logo coils itself, so does a snake.
- Arch - arcus~arco~arc is “bow” in Latin/Romance.
I don’t know if what I’m going to say is correct, but this smells like LLM shitting emojis.
Seems in that place a Fedora is worn on the chest instead of head.
How much Days?
So much Days.
Lmao, they put ads in the terminal? Are they pandering to Win11 users?? :)
Worse, the ads on apt are because they put security updates behind a paywall for LTS - granted it’s free for home users but still requires to sign in to get access to them.
They are security updates that were never available otherwise. They didn’t take something that was freely available and put it behind a paywall. It was a new service.
Another TIL, that is even worse.
Too many pixels
