Ubuntu Linux (opinion)

Sadly, Ubuntu seems to be so much the default Linux distro these days that any search for a Linux "how-to" leads to an Ubuntu-centric solution. Not saying that it isn't a good distro (it is often recommended for a first distro), but I would like to clarify a couple of the points raised by Yakushin in the w-u above as well as add my 2¢ on the desktop distribution and how it works.

At the time of Ubuntu's introduction, it could be tricky to install and configure a usable GNU/Linux, often requiring some understanding of disk partitions, the Linux directory structure and things like setting up networking and X WIndow GUI elements. Ubuntu undermined this by having an installation process that guided users through the process. Not only that, but you could buy a copy of the installation media (pay a wee bit and they'd post you a copy of a CD that you just booted from.) Very user-friendly and helpful to both n00bs and old hands alike.

I cut my Linux teeth on the likes of Slackware and Debian before it had a graphical installation process. Even the notorious Yggdrasil had live CD installation. I had settled on Mandrake Linux and it was my daily driver well before Ubuntu came on the scene. I tried Xubuntu later but soon switched to Open SUSE as it was less demanding of system resources. That said, I'm not about to bash anyone else for their choice of distro.

Ubuntu has also diverged significantly from my personal vision of what a Linux OS should be, allowing the user to determine how their OS works. The recent development of Snap as the default method of installing software is, in my opinion, a step toward a walled garden and indicates the beginning of a trend that could well end with reducing user choice (and that's the main reason I stopped using MS Windows and moved to Linux in the first place!).

So is Ubuntu now Evil Corp? No, I'm not saying that at all. It has just moved away from the mainstream in my opinion. That said, consider the controversy that hit a few years ago, when Ubuntus rolled out the Amazon web app. They introduced an integration with Amazon when they started shipping Unity as a default desktop environment, and later, they added a reporting tool that collects system information and sends it back to Ubuntu to check on what their users are actually using hardware wise. The Amazon thing was terrible a terrible move, as it involved sending unencrypted search requests to Amazon, for anything the users were looking for in the Unity search, and it generally returned very bad results. Ubuntu actually allowed users to disable that feature a little later, and in the end, that Amazon integration turned into an affiliate link in the dash, that could be removed easily, and not used. Still, whilst it wasn't huge relative to what other OS makers did (and still do!), the community generally resented the distro for adding this by default. Whilst this wasn't that bad in the grand scheme of things, it nevertheless tarnished Ubuntu's reputation down to the present day. Geeks have longer memories than the Welsh when it comes down to things like this^†.

I mentioned GNOME earlier, and while this is the default for desktop Ubuntu installations, other desktop environments are available as official variants:

• Xubuntu: Uses the XFCE desktop environment
• Kubuntu: Uses KDE
• Lubuntu: Uses LXQT, a lighter and more efficient DE, handy for older, machines that cannot smoothly run more resource-hungry OSes. It used to use LXDE, which was deprecated after Ubuntu 18.10
• Mate, Cinnamon and Budgie are also available as official versions, while Deepin is available as an unofficial distro, UbuntuDDE.

Many other distros are based on Ubuntu, and use their software repositories. These include Linux Mint and Zorin OS. There are probably hundreds of others, less well-known.
^† The Welsh have never forgiven the Anglo-Saxons for driving them out of what is now England. I've been refused service in Welsh pubs for the crime of simply being English and in Wales =\

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