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Comment by ilaksh | Hacker News Reader

Well, I have been using Ubuntu for many years. This kind of thing, centralizing packages and removing one without explanation etc makes me think I should move on. I suppose the alternative is to switch to Debian?

Or maybe there is something totally different that is becoming popular that I don't know about yet?

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I switched from Ubuntu to Debian on the server side when Canonical started pushing Snaps on Ubuntu Server. Having a server dependency on a proprietary app store is unacceptable to me when open alternatives are available. Debian makes sense because it's upstream from Ubuntu and known for stability.

On the desktop side, Debian is also a stable choice, but you might prefer to go downstream from Ubuntu to get newer features sooner. Snap-free distros based on Ubuntu include Pop!_OS, Linux Mint, and elementary OS. There are also popular distros not based on Debian or Ubuntu, including Arch Linux (and its derivatives) and Fedora.

> you might prefer to go downstream from Ubuntu to get newer features sooner.

  sudo apt update
  sudo apt upgrade
  sudo sed -i 's/bullseye/sid/g' /etc/apt/sources.list
  sudo apt dist-upgrade

Just switch to Mint, it is as stable / easy as Ubuntu and 100% snap free.

I also fled from Ubuntu recently due to Snaps, they are just plain terrible in every regard. I'm now much happier with Debian and Fedora when it comes to "plug and play" Distros.

Debian is probably the move if you want to keep stability, security, and minimize disruption. Most Ubuntu PPAs work on Debian too, in case that matters to you. I personally run Arch Linux on my dev machine, which has its own share of issues (mostly breaking changes due to being a continuous release distro with a focus on being up to date), but the Arch User Repository (AUR) is really good. IMO stay away from the redhat distros like Fedora.

Discussed recently in another story, but many including me like Pop!_OS as a better version of Ubuntu.

I tried Pop before, eventually ran into a compatibility issue. Also it's based on Ubuntu.

I can't speak to the compatibility issues you hit, since that's obviously hardware specific.

Sorry I wasn't clear enough about the Ubuntu connection. Pop!_OS is based on Ubuntu, but Pop!_OS provides non-snap packages for (AFAIK) everything. So for me, Pop!_OS is like Ubuntu, minus the user-hostility.

If you basically-Ubuntu-but-more-free then yes, Debian.

If you want a paradigm shift, try NixOS + home-manager.

I don't see anyone mentioning fedora. Is that a decent alternative?

Yes. In fact I'd personally recommend Fedora as a better alternative to Ubuntu than Debian.

I recently switched to Pop_OS and I'm enjoying it so far. But yeah, you can't go wrong with just plain Debian.

As for me, I'll keep ubuntu but I'll start using flatpak instead of snap.

It's easy to install Flatpak on your current Linux distro. Flatpak officially supports 36 distros. Some of them already have Flatpak built in, while others (including Ubuntu) require just a few minutes to set up Flatpak and Flathub:

https://flatpak.org/setup/

Pop is nice for plug and play.

Manjaro or mint too.

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