Ubuntu 26.04

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Releases & Flavors

  • Fedora 44 is also greenlit, and some compare it favorably for stability and freshness of packages.
  • Ubuntu MATE is skipping 26.04; people worry about MATE’s future and note long-term support burdens if they skip an LTS.
  • Ubuntu Core Desktop (snap-only, immutable) seems stalled; some think its snap-store lock‑in made it unattractive.

TPM-Backed Full-Disk Encryption

  • Strong interest for servers and home servers (no passphrase at boot, protection against drive theft).
  • Multiple reports of the installer failing to set up TPM-backed encryption on various laptops/desktops; seems limited to certain TPM/firmware combos.
  • Some argue TPM auto‑unlock doesn’t protect against whole-machine theft or “evil maid” attacks; others say it’s still valuable against casual thieves.

Snaps and Distro Alternatives

  • Many dislike snap (sandbox quirks, access issues, redirection from apt, reinstallation after removal).
  • Workarounds: purge snapd, pin its priority, use Mozilla’s own Firefox deb, or start from “minimal” flavors.
  • Several recommend moving to Debian, Linux Mint (including LMDE), Pop!_OS, Fedora (Workstation/KDE), MX Linux, or Arch-based gaming distros.
  • Some warn that staying on Ubuntu while fighting snaps leads to stale packages or constant maintenance.

Desktop Environments & UX

  • Heavy criticism of GNOME decisions, especially disabling middle-click paste by default in GNOME 50; some welcome it (fewer accidental pastes), others see it as hostile to long‑time X users.
  • Strong praise for KDE Plasma 6.6 (HiDPI, configurability, Windows-like workflow) and Cinnamon as “GNOME-when-it-was-good.”
  • Ongoing GNOME vs KDE debate: KDE seen as powerful but complex; GNOME seen as simpler but opinionated and sometimes removing features.

Rust coreutils & sudo-rs

  • Concern over many CVEs in Rust-based coreutils; examples include TOCTOU bugs and potential silent data corruption.
  • Some argue this shows “rewrite in Rust” isn’t a panacea; others say long‑term benefits still justify it but current Ubuntu users are effectively beta testers.

Hardware, ZFS & Misc Issues

  • Mixed views on Ubuntu’s hardware support; once a clear leader, now seen as one good option among many.
  • ZFS upgrades from 24.04→25.04 had issues, especially for ZFS root; workarounds exist for non‑root pools.
  • Reports of installer networking problems (Wi‑Fi DHCP hangs), DNS configuration oddities, VPN client failures, and dislike of the new boot animation.

Canonical Direction & Community

  • Several long‑time users feel Canonical has become more top‑down and less community‑oriented, pushing snaps and big stack changes (coreutils, sudo-rs) without enough opt‑out paths.
  • Others counter that Ubuntu LTS remains a strong, low‑maintenance choice for production, education, and non‑expert users.