学习Linux不止于Ubuntu (转载)

If you only use Ubuntu, you’re missing out on what Linux is all about

When it comes to Linux, have you only ever used Ubuntu? Have you noticed that your “Linux skills” break the moment you try another distro? Here are four reasons why Ubuntu-only users are missing the real Linux experience.

You’re outsourcing your understanding to system defaults

Linux has a reputation for being complicated and inaccessible to the less tech-savvy user base. Now, Ubuntu has become popular precisely for solving this problem. It ships with sensible defaults and graphical tools that make Linux less technically intimidating—giving you a functional operating system that works out of the box. However, if you stick with this default workflow and don’t evolve, you’re really missing what Linux is all about.

The real beauty of Linux is that it presents you with tons of options and the freedom to choose whatever tools and packages you like. As such, it’s important that you understand these options so you can pick the right combination of tools and build a system that’s optimized for your specific needs and requirements. However, when you pick Ubuntu, most of these choices are made for you—and sticking with those defaults means you’re using a general-purpose system that’s suboptimal.

For example, Ubuntu 25.10 uses Wayland as the only display server—X11 has been completely removed with no fallback option. The desktop environment is GNOME 49, but it’s a heavily customized and opinionated version that differs significantly from vanilla GNOME. For the file system, it uses Ext4, and for system initialization, it uses systemd.

Most people using Ubuntu don’t even know about these components because they’re so well hidden from plain sight. While none of these defaults are inherently wrong, they can be wrong for you based on what you want to do—and by relying on Ubuntu’s defaults, you’re losing the independence and autonomy to start building something that’s “better” for your specific workflow.

You’re learning Ubuntu-specific syntax—not Linux-specific concepts

All Ubuntu is Linux, but not all Linux is Ubuntu—though you wouldn’t know it from most online tutorials. Ubuntu has become so synonymous with “Linux” that when you search for help, you’ll find guides claiming to be “for Linux” while being packed with Ubuntu-specific commands that won’t work anywhere else. Take package management. You learn sudo apt install and think that’s how you install apps on Linux. But that’s just Ubuntu’s syntax. On Fedora, it’s sudo dnf install . On Arch, it’s sudo pacman -Syu . Real Linux knowledge means understanding what a package manager is, not memorizing one distro’s commands.

Likewise, maybe you’re reading up on how to improve the security of your Linux system. You might find tutorials on AppArmor, which is installed on Ubuntu by default, but it’s not the only Linux security module. For example, Fedora uses SELinux, which offers more granular control.

I’ve hit this problem myself. Countless times I’ve found “Linux solutions” online that were actually Ubuntu-only and completely failed on my non-Ubuntu system. Your bash scripts, your workflows, your troubleshooting skills—they all become Ubuntu-centric. And when you eventually move to enterprise environments running RHEL, Fedora, or openSUSE, you’ll realize your Ubuntu knowledge doesn’t transfer because you learned syntax, not concepts.

You’re embracing bloat again with Snap packages

Ubuntu is based on Debian and inherits its APT package manager. However, not all applications are available through APT. Sometimes you have to use third-party repositories called PPAs (Personal Package Archives) or download the DEB file and install it manually—both of which can be risky.

Now, this problem isn’t exclusive to Ubuntu. Packaging has always been messy and scattered on Linux. Universal package formats like Snap were created to solve this problem by bundling apps with all their dependencies—thereby making the apps distro-agnostic. While it sounds great in theory, snaps are not without their fair share of controversy.

First, Snaps are self-contained packages that bundle all necessary dependencies within themselves. As a result, they generally take up more space than regular Debian packages. Beyond this storage bloat, Snap packages are noticeably slower to load compared to traditional packages. On an SSD, you might not notice slower to load compared to traditional packages. On an SSD, you might not notice it much, but on hard disk systems, the performance hit is really annoying.

Furthermore, while most Snap apps themselves are generally open source, the Snap distribution system—the Snap store backend—is proprietary. And worst of all, Ubuntu forces snaps on you, which feels antithetical to what Linux stands for. For example, Ubuntu installs the Snap version of Firefox, even when you type sudo apt install firefox—without any explicit warning that you’re installing the Snap version. Likewise, when you’re using the graphical software store, there’s no easy way to tell if the app you’re installing is a Debian package or a Snap package.

You’re settling again for corporate meddling

Many people switch to Linux to escape corporate control, but Ubuntu is backed by Canonical—a for-profit, private UK-based company. While Ubuntu itself is free and open source, Canonical is still motivated to make money, and as such, their decisions can often be anti-consumer.

The most well-known example of this was the Amazon search integration scandal back in 2012-2016. Ubuntu shipped with preinstalled Amazon shortcuts and sent your local desktop searches to Canonical’s servers, which then queried Amazon to show you product results. The Electronic Frontier Foundation condemned it. Richard Stallman called it “spyware.” Privacy International gave Canonical a “Big Brother Award.”

While this isn’t a problem today, it has proven that Canonical can make questionable decisions when corporate interests are involved. For example, as we just discussed, Ubuntu is currently promoting its closed-source Snap distribution system to its users—especially when a similarly capable open-source alternative exists in Flatpaks.

The OS also gathers telemetry. While it is an opt-in, it’s still not ideal because it pops up during the system setup process, and the option to “share system data” is selected by default. This means if you keep clicking Next to quickly go through the setup wizard, you’ll inadvertently opt in to telemetry. Sure, you can later go into Settings > Privacy & Security to disable it, but that doesn’t change how Canonical set things up in the first place. A big part of Linux is freedom from corporate control—and swapping Microsoft for Canonical misses the point entirely.

---

Ubuntu is a great starting point—but it shouldn’t be your final destination. Start questioning defaults, try a new distro in a VM, and learn the concepts behind the commands. That’s when you stop being an Ubuntu user and start becoming a Linux user.