Agree with this. As much as Ubuntu is derided for several reasons, it just works. I tinkered with different distros for years, and while it was super fun, I wasn't very productive. Ubuntu and Fedora are the only distros where stuff just worked for me.

I've been using Ubuntu since around the time you needed an invite to create a Gmail account. Back then it was a breath of fresh air, because the install was batteries-included and Canonical's help forums were genuinely useful.

Ubuntu is bloated now but still just about OK despite:

* Snooping on users. * Forcing people to install Snaps. * Relentlessly promoting systemd, which turned out to be a giant mistake. * Pointless fiddling about with the desktop in every release. * Canonical having a universe-class egomaniac for a CEO, even by South African tech-billionaire standards.

But if Ubuntu has been treading water for 25 years, that represents an improvement over the titanic disaster that is Windows 11, and the walled-garden den of developer hostility that is Apple.