Hey guys! I’m getting into the open source world and for years, i am finally hoing to try Linux! However, i see a lot of complains about Ubuntu and i just dont know why. What are you guys complains about Ubuntu? My next PC will come with Ubuntu. Do you guys think i should use Mint instead? Need help.
The only real issue with Ubuntu is it uses Snap app store instead of Flathub app store.
Flathub has more apps, is faster, and has some minor security improvements. Linux Mint uses Flathub.
HOWEVER, you can add Flathub as additional source in Ubuntu app store app, and use Flathub exclusively.
In that case, no real difference between Ubuntu and Linux Mint other than UI.
Also Snap backend is a proprietary crap, unlike flatpak.
Another problem though is the best Flatpak store Bazaar’s Flatpak version is broken due to Ubuntu apparmor. There are workarounds but they don’t really seem to be doing much about it. There’s a deb version in the repos but it is currently very out of date as its a newer app with fairly active development
What are the minor security improvements?
Flathub sandboxes applications to prevent them from infecting the system if app gets hacked, and lets you control permissions for each app, like microphone, camera etc.
But they are still work in progress and easily circumvented, thus I called them only minor improvements.
Snap is arguably the better sandbox. The bigger issue with Snap is that only Canonical (the company that owns Ubuntu) has the code for the Snap store, so it’s a closed ecosystem and there are no alternative stores, so the minute they enshittify it’s garbage. Flathub is the most popular flatpak repo but the code for a flatpak repo is open source, there are alternative options and will be in the future.
Snap has a better sandbox, but only if you have an AppArmor distro. If your distro of choice uses SELinux or something else, then you’re out of luck.
Actually, just having AppArmor enabled isn’t enough. Snap’s strict confinement depends on specific out-of-tree AppArmor kernel patches that Canonical bakes into Ubuntu.
If your distro uses the stock Linux kernel, even with AppArmor active (like Debian, Arch, or openSUSE) snapd lacks the necessary kernel-level hooks and drops down to partial confinement. Because of this fallback, non-Ubuntu AppArmor distros don’t actually get the full Snap sandbox, they get a degraded version of it.
Mint is based on Ubuntu LTS (long-term support) releases, unless you go with LMDE which is based on Debian. There is not a major technical difference but there are political differences between the projects.
The main reason to go with Mint instead of Ubuntu is if you prefer Cinnamon over GNOME as I do, and want a distribution built around the Cinnamon desktop environment.
Use whatever feels comfortable. Both are fine. People are complaining about micro annoyances that should not really affect you at first.
When you get comfortable with Linux, you’ll also get to pick sides in micro battles like KDE vs Gnome, vi vs emacs, systemd vs sysv, flatpak vs snap and all the other wonderful my-side-is-better-than-yours fights.
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This is an objectively false statement. There are at least one scenario I can think of where Snap is better than flatpak.
Edit: You guys really don’t know what objectively better means huh.
You can’t run your own snap repo. That goes against the entire point of openness.
that is certainly a downside.
micro battles like KDE vs Gnome
I don’t think that’s a small thing for someone new to Linux.
I prefer Xfce over MATE, KDE, and Cinnamon because I use old computers. I wouldn’t recommend modern GNOME.
systemd vs sysv
There is no systemd vs sysv war. It is systemd suck or systemd fine.
Indeed. It seems that everyone dislikes sysv, but a small group can’t decide on what the better option is.
systemd vs sysv
Most of systemd-less distros use openrc, dinit or runit, sysv is mostly dead nowadays. Some distros still utilize it tho.
Start by trying the desktops (mainly KDE, Cinnamon, gnome…), which are very different, and see which one you prefer. You can try them online.
https://distrosea.com/select/ubuntu/
https://distrosea.com/select/linuxmint/
https://distrosea.com/select/kubuntu/
If you click for cinamon go mint. If you click for KDE go Debian KDE or kubuntu If you click for gnome go Ubuntu.
The rest will become clear later on.
Between those two, I would go with regular Debian, or Mint LMDE if it has to be one of the two.
Debian is much better about providing a reasonably updated desktop experience these days.
As for Ubuntu… Their engineering is bad, and they’re shady. They push their solutions over standard stuff, and their solutions are conveniently setup to allow them to close source the code if anything ever reaches wide adoption or are proprietary from the beginning.
coughsnapscough
My complaint is that Ubuntu is flirting with becoming proprietary software. Don’t get me wrong they’re nowhere near closed source or such but still.
That and they have some mechanics that feel counter intuitive to me. (But that’s personal taste)
I’d choose mint then. Just because it has a more “traditional windows” (don’t think about 11, don’t think about 11,…vom) styled flow to it.
Happy cake day!
Thx! ～(つˆ0ˆ)つ｡☆
Ubuntu has ads in the OS, mint dosnt.
Installed mint on my parents laptops so they didn’t become e-waste when Win11 came out. They have no issues.
Being new(ish) to Linux since that time and I found that the main distortion are better than their sub “flavours”. For me anyway. I didn’t like Mint LMDE or Kubuntu etc.
I tend to agree that the main distribution is better than it’s “sub-flavours”, but by that logic you should be using Debian, not mint/ubuntu
Yeah. I knew somone would say that. I feel Mint is its own thing though and main stream enough. I meant more the distros that have a webite, and then other flavours or spins on that distro.
I do want to try Debian at some stage but it just feels about old out of the box.
No shade on mint. It is a great distro. It’s my recommendation for people switching from windows
Ubuntu is fine, especially for a new user it’s usually widely supported and has the most resources available.
I can’t stand Gnome, though. I’d very much recommend going with Kubuntu.
Yes Ubuntu is a solid distro, except if you are a hater. Gnome is not suitable for me as a mouse user. Keyboard users like it though. So I use Kubuntu, as it has the Plasma desktop. Which works really well.
When Windows was my primary OS, I always used to lean towards Mint over Ubuntu on my laptop. Ubuntu never seemed to click for me and I’d revert back to Mint each time. Then in April 2025, I installed EndeavourOS as my daily driver and have really liked it. I don’t miss Windows now.
It’s really a personal preference. Download some LiveCDs and try them all, lol.
I prefer Mint over Ubuntu because of the default desktop environment. Also, in Mint you can unintall apps directly from menu with right-click-uninstall.
ubuntu makes controversial choices. Mint is explicitly user friendly, and its debian edition is like a bike with training wheels, getting you debian with extra “niceties”.
LMDE (Linux mint debian edition) is, from my POV, the gold standard for noob distros. Ubuntu is explicitly like a tricycle but LMDE is like a bike with training wheels. You can eventually take them off for debian next time you change OS with less problems, if you want. I going from LMDE + Cinnamon to Debian + KDE shouldn’t be an issue.
Ubuntu is the only distro I recommend against. Too much shitfuckery from Canonical. It’s basically the Windows of Linux distros. I recommend Zorin to new users.
When you said it’s the windows of Linux it reminded me years ago it included ads for Amazon. I wonder if they still have ads of some sort.
It’s basically the Windows of Linux distros. I recommend Zorin to new users.
… which is basically the self declared windows and not only is it corporate, it’s also paid
Ubuntu is fine. Mint is fine. If you have a newer device id pick ubuntu over mint. Its a matter of preference. If your next PC comes with ubuntu use that and see how you like it. If you dont try out mint, try out fedora KDE as well.
My only issue with Ubuntu is that snap feels fairly clunky. That’s why I moved to fedora. Also, definitely worth looking at pop os. But, all of them come down to personal preference
I think these days, Linus Torvalds moved to fedora
This is mostly why I switched away from Ubuntu as well, I prefer flatpack. But again this is a minor thing that if you are just switching you shouldn’t care about I think.
Genuine question: Am I missing something? I use Ubuntu and never use the Snap store. I only use the apt repository to install applications I find online. What is the advantage of Flathub over my current setup?
Sometimes even if you use apt, you’re really using the snap store. I believe Firefox is one such example.
Depends on your needs. If there are packages for everything you need, thats fine. Also, its fine if you don’t mind going to the sites and downloading directly. I have a few packages which are easier to use on flathub though.
I also find Gnome Software centre and discover are a lot cleaner than Ubuntu’s software used for package management.
Ubuntu these days has 15 years of software support though.
Both are fine in practice.
Second the rec for Pop OS. It’s basically Ubuntu without Snap (with some other differences as well, of course). Cosmic is pretty nice though I encountered a few show-stopping issues on my office PC that pushed me off it. They may have been fixed by now, though.
Debian+KDE for me, though. Using it in the office, at home, and on my portable mini-ITX streaming box, and it does everything I ask of it without getting in my way.
Ubuntu is fine, though with the recent rewrite of coreutils I’d be concerned about stability and bugs. That said switching distros is pretty easy, trying other distros in a VM is easy too. I always keep my data on another disk so it’s never affected if I break something. I recommend Mint (LMDE version) and Fedora Desktop with whatever desktop environment suits you.
