I believe the community had expressed a lot of valuable ideas here, so I will keep the post. But I am locking the thread because it’s just not information given in good faith. That’s not to say that the points are all wrong, these can be debated. And we did debate. But the infographic itself is border to being just propaganda against a distro that serves well to a lot of users (this is a fact! even if me or you think those users could be served better.)
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.
And they’ve tied the dependency tree together such that you can’t disable them without entirely breaking updates.
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.
An old PC of mine as been promoted to becoming my first personal server ever and I went for Debian without UI. I’ve dealt with Ubuntu servers at work for a while. For me Debian felt so incredibly lightweight yet so familiar. I heartily recommend the move for a home server.
I’ve been slowly documenting everything so I can reinstall with Debian
This works much better if you document into an Ansible playbook. Although some tasks will probably have to be adjusted between the distros.
Even Microsoft hasn’t put ads in the terminal I think.
Shh, don’t give them ideas 🙏
I left Ubuntu some years ago because I wanted apt install a package and it got hijacked by snaps without warning.
I left when they dropped Gnome 2 for Unity. I’ve been using Mint (with Cinnamon) ever since.
If anyone else would rather read text as text: https://www.linuxteck.com/ubuntu-trust-problem-2026/
Appreciate it as a mobile user!
Strong agree. I use a derivative that blocks snaps instead of direct Kubuntu now, and it wasn’t Just because of the snaps.
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.
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.
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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.
What’s a better alternative that uses apt and KDE and has relatively up-to-date packages (other than Debian testing)?
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.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.
Linux mint Debian Edition, and just install KDE yourself ig, otherwise MX linux KDE
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.
https://www.google.com/search?q=why+shouldn't+you+use+apt+on+fedora&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&safe=active
It’s a really bad idea to have two package managers overlap (this is also why more “cross-system” package managers like nix and brew are okay: they consciously install to separate paths to avoid overlapping)
Fedora does not offer APT repositories, so if you somehow don’t overlap and pretty much exclusively use APT, you’re pretty much just converting your distro to Debian (or whatever’s providing your repos). In the forums we call this a Frankenstein; support is seldom given for raising the dead.
https://www.google.com/search?q=why+shouldn't+you+use+apt+on+fedora&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&safe=active
Is your answer whatever Gemini happens to hallucinate on a given day?
https://www.google.com/search?q=why+shouldn't+you+use+apt+on+fedora+-ai
do yourself a favor and just block the overview: https://www.reddit.com/r/uBlockOrigin/comments/1crc47m/is_it_possible_to_use_ublock_to_remove_googles/
Debian Sid!
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.
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?
Novel got Suse pretty stable now too. I’m still a Fedora fan but it’s an option.
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.
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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 still have a server running ubuntu
i run snaps on it ewwwww!
it has never fucked me over
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.
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.
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.
Snap is the cancer of Linux. Go work for Micro$lop if you like to disrespect users.
ads in the terminal lol. back in 2009 I was a gentoo user and was distro shopping. looked at fedora Debian Ubuntu and arch and settled on Debian.
I don’t remember if ubunto had either snap or unity back then… but I saw Ubunto as mainly making Debian easier to use. I was coming from Gentoo… debian was already easy to use 🙂
now, I use arch btw. switched in 2019 (mainly cause I got new hardware and needed latest releases and latest bugs 🙂)
I don’t think snap existed in 2009?
But yeah Unity was the desktop iirc.Edit now I’m not sure about unity either.
Too many pixels
Original at https://www.linuxteck.com/ubuntu-trust-problem-2026/
I wondered why they didn’t mention that the Universe repository comes without any form of official support and that unpaid community members are expected to cherry pick bug fixes and backport them, usually resulting in no updates, a potential security risk.
Then I scrolled down and they’re suggesting Ubuntu derivatives that are also affected by this (Mint pop). I have the suspicion that they don’t mention to make these two look good.
See https://www.flu0r1ne.net/logs/ubuntu_withholding_universe_security_patches for a somewhat recent (2023) overview on that topic and how Ubuntu Pro plays into this.
This was always the case. Main and restricted were guaranteed by Canonical, universe and multiverse fully owned by the community. A bunch of paying customers were unhappy with not getting updates to universe packages, so Canonical made a separate repository that would do that for Ubuntu Pro. Community members with access to the universe repository can still upload fixes there.
This was always the case.
Yes, I know. So? Doesn’t change the fact that users of Debian/Fedora/… don’t have to sign up for a “Pro” service to get the same security updates.
. . . 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.”
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).
I find it rather interesting that the same author wrote a new article about how to install Ubuntu 24.04 LTS the day after writing about Ubuntu’s trust problem, but without mentioning the previous article or any point he previously made…
I’ve come to learn that it might be AI writing these
100%… I just had a look through the other articles too and they reek of AI.
The article: https://www.linuxteck.com/ubuntu-trust-problem-2026/
