Just for fun, I decided to try and imagine what a Linux distro would look like if it got hit by the enshittification stick that seems to affect every digital product of service these days. 👏 SUPPORT THE CHANNEL: Get access to: a Daily Linux News show, a weekly patroncast for more personal thoughts,...
What would it look like? I'd guess Amazon ads in the search bar, proprietary package managers overriding the old open package manager, and popup ads for distribution Pro?
Ubuntu was my first distro because ubuntu was linux for outsiders many years ago. Any other distro was only for hardcore people. I don't regret hopping around the linux world.
I used Ubuntu for over 10 years. I loved it. But Canonical does have a lot of baggage. Plus, I wanted to go to the source. So that's why I use Debian. I'd still advise a new user to go for Mint if they loved the Windows UI or Ubuntu if they hated it. If you use and love Mint, I don't think anyone would criticize you for continuing to use it. If you use and love Ubuntu, I'd say Debian is a very easy next step.
I used to be "Debian on the server, Ubuntu on the desktop" but recently I've spun up a few Debian boxes for desktop and I'm pleasantly surprised.
Kinda wish Valve would go for a full-out supported distro that stays in step with the Deck for Linux gamers (the old desktop SteamOS is kinda abandoned from what I can see), among with making the deck frontend a supported desktop manager. It would make sense for them to do so and rake in the game sales whilst providing a well-supported platform without the shit others are doing.
Same. I started really using Linux with Ubuntu 6.06 and was drawn in by its "Linux for human beings" goals - the Ubuntu homepage of the era really pushed the ideals of community and openness. Canonical sat in the background paying to send you free CDs in the mail. It was such an idealistic thing back then.
And then it all changed around 2010. The color scheme shifted to a shitty MacOS lookalike, the human elements were dropped, the logo was reworked, it got bundled with a paid music store, then Amazon ads in the search, and it's been a roller coaster on a downward spiral ever since. I switched to Debian not long after the initial enshittification in the early 2010s and have not looked back, though I moved most of my systems to Arch a few years back because I like life in the fast rolling release lane and Debian wouldn't support my new GPUs.
I got into linux right before all the snap drama really blew up (it did exist but didn't seem to be quite as hot of a topic). I really liked my experience with Ubuntu, but seeing where Canonical has taken it, I'd never recommend it to anyone. I'd honestly advise newbies to use Debian. It's incredibly stable, has a fantastic and well established community, and has everything an average user would want without adding layers of confusion with things like snap.
Ubuntu has had all three of those things. Amazon ads in the search bar was awhile back. Not sure but I assume they still hijack installing Firefox using apt and instead install it using snap. And Ubuntu Pro popups are a new thing.
It's ridiculous how Ubuntu went from the easiest entry to Linux to one of the most hated distros in the community. Seriously, I'll never understand how the broken brains of their leadership even work.
Does anyone know if this is still the case? This video is 11 years old, but logic and common sense tell me that, if anything, it should be even worse now.
No clue, but they did their "whoopsie, didn't know you wouldn't like it, now it's opt in" pretty quickly.
A while back I've read about some allegations that they're illegally collecting data from Azure Ubuntu instances and sending Ubuntu pro marketing material.