Even though Ubuntu is easy to use and yes it works doesn’t mean its a good choice as an Operating System, there are plenty of other Linux distributions out there which does a pretty decent job in terms of Simplicity. Here we will breakdown the top reasons why the Linux community as a whole do not like Ubuntu
1. Ubuntu Has a Huge Performance Overhead
Ubuntu is slower when comes to switch between various workspaces, you do not get the snappy nature of other distributions out there. Here’s a side by side comparison of several services and daemons running in Ubuntu compared to Manjaro. Both in Gnome Desktop Environment. We run the following command in the terminal of both distros:
systemctl list-unit-files --state=enabled --no-pager
Here’s the output:
102 running daemons in Ubuntu 20.04 24 running daemons in Manjaro
As you can see Ubuntu has over 4 times the applications running in them. Even Pop_OS! which is based on Ubuntu is slimmer.
2. Snaps
Snap is the centralized repository of Canonical (who develops Ubuntu). Most people in Linux Community or people switching over to Linux looks for freedom. With freedom, we mean free and open-source software. Snap contains proprietary software which is exactly the opposite of open-source. Why you should opt for open-sourced, with open-sourced people all over the world can view the source code and make changes unlike in closed source it remains restricted to only a handful of developers. Snaps do not allow the freedom to opt-out of proprietary applications. The reason why people use snaps is because of its simplicity. But In reality, the snap is slower and faces occasional crashes while installing software. A better alternative of the snap is flatpak. Flatpak is completely open sourced.
3. Past Records
Ubuntu started sending search data to Amazon before 12.10. Earlier from Ubuntu 12.10, they added the Unity search bar in the applications menu. Upon typing a keyword the search results would be populated with products from amazon. Technically each search keyword is sent to productsearch.ubuntu.com and then to Amazon. Which is not a move that should be expected from the Linux Community. They did it for monetary reasons at a cost of privacy. They claim to remove that from 16.10. But putting up Ads in a Linux Operating System is pretty much what makes Ubuntu questionable.
You can use the following despite Ubuntu:
1. Manjaro
Manjaro (KDE Desktop Environment). Manjaro is super sleek and slim when it comes to performance and is beginner-friendly. Manjaro is based on Arch which is another way of experiencing Linux (Similar to how Ubuntu is based on Debian), thus in Manjaro, you can experience the AUR (Arch User Repository) which is a huge repository of applications allowing ease of finding applications and to install them. Manjaro comes with three flavors out of the box namely, KDE, Xfce, and Gnome.
2. Linux Mint
Linux Mint (Cinnamon Desktop Environment). Reluctant to switch to Arch because already made yourselves accustomed to the ubuntu environment? Then Linux Mint is the right choice for you. Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu but all the garbage has been completely cleaned out. It’s less bloated and does not uses snaps come with flatpak out of the box. Linux Mint comes with three flavors- Cinnamon, Xfce, and MATE.
