I think it's Ubuntu the corporation that gets criticized more than Ubuntu the OS.

They get compared to Red Hat, which from a hacker or open source point of view virtually always takes the high road and does the 'right thing'. They open source everything, they track down licenses, they sponsor the community, they insist on the purity of their own products, they're seen as being very co-operative when joining a project, et cetera. It's a high bar and Ubuntu doesn't quite reach it.

They're angels compared to pretty much any corporation but Red Hat, but it's Red Hat we compare them to.