1000 reasons to hate Ubuntu Linux
If you want to be successful in life, you have to use criticism to your advantage. Instead of looking at this list as a 1000 ways to hate desktop Linux, you can look at it as a 1000 ways to improve desktop Linux.
I wanted to start out with 10 reasons, but doesn’t it sound so much cooler as 1000. I also figured I should keep the heading “A 1000 reasons to hate desktop Linux”, but we all know that if you want to get dugg up you have to use the magic word Ubuntu 
.
Here’s the deal, everyone posts their own 10 reasons to hate their distro/version of desktop linux. I will post my own reasons, and by the end of 99 comments we will have a really huge list of reasons to hate Ubuntu. You didn’t think I was stupid enough to blabber on for a 1000 reasons, did you?
My reasons are based on the default install. The first impression a user gets by using the live cd or by booting it for the first time is very important. Just so you know I dont hate ubuntu, In fact compiling this list was extremely hard as its an amazing OS. But a lot of people hate ubuntu and other linux distros and I need to know why.
1. Its UGLY! From boot to desktop, it is very lacking aesthetically.
2. Limited screen estate. When I start browsing in firefox, the 3 panels in ff + the window bar + the 2 panels ubuntu has by default leaves me with very less horizontal space.
3. Crap default home page in firefox. I really think they could earn from the home page if it was well built and had links to other google services too.
4. Needs simplicity and polishing. Check out the screen savers, there are so many and most of them are not worth looking at. They feel like they have teleported from windows 95. I suggest you keep only a few good ones that are of reasonable quality. Other than that a few small annoyances can greatly effect the experience of a new user, like the extremely ugly icon of the Xsane image scanner in the graphics menu is intolerable.
5. Slow boot & shutdown times. Once loaded, Ubuntu needs to be more snappy like fedora or arch.
6. Ugly website, probably one of the worst sites I have seen. How do you expect someone to download the OS after the impression given by the website.
7. Crappy support for, webcams, microphones & networking. [I have to say they have improved on the networking part in Intrepid]
8. Buggy – standby, hibernate, lock screen, switch user, power manager, and probably a lot more that I didnt notice.
9. When copying from one folder to my back up drive, I cannot update the folder on my back up drive. In vista there is an option to merge folder and overwrite any newer files. In ubuntu i have to delete the folder on my drive and then paste the updated folder, this is annoying when you are transferring 100gb of data.
10. No screenshots in add/remove programs, have to go check out the website and search through the screenshots. It should also mention the download size which it doesn’t.
Here are my two cents, its time to give me yours. Let me know what you hate about Ubuntu or any other desktop linux for that matter.
If you have not already heard I am also organising a graphical user interface competition which will take place in a few weeks. You can learn more about it here.
Join the discussion! Jump to the comments
31 Interesting Conversations
No comments? Looks like you have a long way to go to get to 1000. Telling.
Tom
December 19, 2008
If you compare it with Vista, maybe it’s better for you to use Vista
There are so many ways to make Ubuntu to have a look you like so I don’t see any point in your reasons.
mmilan
December 19, 2008
You have too much time on your hands. Find something constructive to do. Hate is such a strong word. Life is too short for hate. Find something that you like and stick with it, you will be happier than going around hating things , especially things that can’t return your affection or lack of it.
LinuxCanuck
December 19, 2008
@tom yup, I will be glad if it doesn’t reach too far. If this was “A 1000 reasons to hate Windows Vista” I am pretty sure I would have 1500 by now.
@mmmilan Didn’t I make it clear that I love ubuntu, use it everyday. This is just for fun. It was extremely difficult to come up with 10 reasons. Yes i compared it to vista, but it had to be done as they have that feature and I would like it in ubuntu.
@LinuxCanuck Look again “A 1000 reasons to make ubuntu better”. This is just a catchy head to get people to realize what they don’t like about the OS so it can be fixed. Its really how you look at it. And once a M$ basher realizes there is no reason to bash linux, good things can happen.
kumailht
December 19, 2008
Not even sure why your comment was even included on the site, as it is not worthy of anything more than disdain (better go fire up your dictionary for that word) !!!
Spike
December 19, 2008
1. Agreed, the default is pretty unattractive to most of us. Easily changeable though.
2. I always remove the bottom panel and keep everything at the top. That’s a gnome issue though, not just Ubuntu.
3. Agreed.
4. Xsane has been around since the late 90’s, and it’s icon reflects that heritage. Not really Ubuntu’s fault, they’re just passing along the Xsane package.
5. Agreed. One of the reasons I don’t use Ubuntu anymore, I’m now a Gentoo user, switched because I wanted something a little snappier and a little more interesting.
6. Agreed.
7. That’s a kernel issue, not Ubuntu. Although I would strongly dispute the “networking” claim. If you clarified to “wireless networking” I’d be inclined to agree.
8. Dunno what issues you had with lock screen and switch user, but suspend and hibernate were always a little dodgy for me under Ubuntu. That’s something they probably could do something about, without relying on upstream. Not sure if they apply the TuxOnIce patches, but they probably should.
9. That’s nautilus, and something to suggest to the Gnome devs. Try rsync (or grsync for a graphical frontend), it’s written solely for the purpose you describe.
10. That’s something Ubuntu is actually responsible for. Screenshots could be a nice idea, open up a feature request in launchpad if you want it. Personally I never use graphical package managers, but I can see how they would be useful for people who do.
jw5801
December 19, 2008
The main reason to dislike ununtu (hate is a little to strong a word). Is the simple fact that it is no better than any other distro. There are probably areas where it has advantages but there are also areas where it is severely lacking. It is over hyped simply because it is owned by a bilionaire with excessive business connections. The second reason to dislike ubuntu is the dreaded Gnome. The whole mentality of gnome developerment is insulting to even a morons intelligence. “Users are confused by options” indeed.
Greg
December 20, 2008
Just more reasons to run pure Debian.
Mike
December 20, 2008
Funny! You can never find out 1000 reasons..wrong headline i think. And then who cares your 1000 reasons for not using Ubuntu?
Cenk Limni
December 20, 2008
Just use arch linux and non of these will be an issue.
the ringmaster
December 20, 2008
1. Gnome is the #1 reason IMHO to not use Ubuntu
2. Kubuntu is dumbed down from how KDE could work; Kubuntu just kinda doesn’t work well at all.
3. Bugs don’t get attention for years — I’m still getting updates on bugs that I filed two years ago, or the famous, “Try upgrading the OS, does that fix it?”, or the also-famous “I cannot reproduce this and it’s old so I am closing the bug report”. A bit (!!) late on all of them, and not how bug fixing should work.
4. Software isn’t added or updated once a version is released, except for security issues.
5. Too many changes away from how Debian works, which works very well, so fixes/advice on one doesn’t always hold for the other
6. .deb packages should be for Debian but, just like the .rpm format fragmented between Red Hat and SuSE, the .deb format is now also fragmented because Ubuntu has a different file system layout than its parent, Debian. Please, change your packages to .ubu or something and leave the .deb to Debian.
7. Upgrades from one release to the next _never_ worked for me. Not once. In four upgrade attempts over five versions.
8. Poor upstream patching — bugs that do get fixed aren’t always sent along to Debian or the software developers.
9. Releases are based on a fixed schedule rather than on making sure the distro works well. How many horror stories about PulseAudio from this new release?
10. Ubuntu users too often think that Ubuntu *is* GNU/Linux.
11. The forums are filled with unanswered questions and duplicate threads; Google searching for solutions will often bring up the Ubuntu forum but I am as unlikely to get a solution as I am to get an Ubuntu-specific answer, which just isn’t helpful in either case unless I’m running an older version that the thread is specifically meant for.
After a few years of fighting these and more issues, I’ve moved on to Debian Testing with KDE (I’ve got KDE4 now and loving it). I cannot in good conscience recommend any of the *buntus, which is kinda sad.
lefty.crupps
December 20, 2008
– I guess many linux users (me included) went through the *buntu path… to go elsewhere. As Mike mentionned above, some more reason to stick to Debian.
– I currently run sidux (Pure Debian sid made stable); not so well known but a terrific distro. Fast, stable, bleeding edge. It’s a rolling distro that gets updated (kernel and packages) on all my machines every ten days using a fabulous script (smxi). Never had a single glitch in nine months and it takes only about ten minutes to do so. sidux rocks and the community is very supportive and knowledgeable.
– Reading your blog made me think that I made a very good decision by moving away from the *buntus.
jyp
December 21, 2008
All things are relative. If Linux sucks, then it sucks much less than the alternatives. I can certify that’s the case in regards to Windows, although I’ve never used a Mac. I don’t have a Mac because I am computer literate and have no desire to pay double for Apple hardware. I am basically stuck using Linux because it’s the best alternative for me. If you want to get out of your “glass is half empty” mindset, I suggest you boot up Windows XP or Vista for a few weeks straight
Steve
December 26, 2008
Hey Kumail is right. I have a dual boot with Vista and Ubuntu and i think ubuntu is a great OS. However the bottom line is all linux distros are just downright ugly. And beleive me when it comes to customizing I have done all I could. have downloading so much stuff from gnome look and at the end of the day something is still missing. Most people who use linux are people who really know computers but if you way that against all the people who actually use a computer thats a small amount. I know you are gonna hate me for saying this but Vista and windows in general has alot of eatures that ubuntu doesnt have, or maybe i should say things that the ordinary windows users are usd to. I have tried to convert many friend to linux or at least introduce them to it. First when they see wll the effects they are immediately fascinated but then after install they dont like it. The GUI is just plain out ugly. My problem with Linux users is the inability to take criticism. Yes Vista has its problems, its unstable, missing drivers and the lists goes on but at the end of the day windows has more users than all other operating systems combined. May this was because all PCs came preinstalled with windows but at the end of the day its what more than 80% of computer users know. And the first thing thing that are going to pull them over is the user interface. Of course you can do basically everything in linux that you can do in windows yet why are they not switching. Oh of course you gonna say they are dumbasses and lots of nasty stuff? hell i know i gonna get whats coming to me. The bottom line is whatever crappy os Microsoft comes out with they will continue to have more users than linux, maybe the asses are the masses but isnt that what you want? for everyone to switch over. believe me they wont. And by the I use ubuntu and i love it, and yes its a bit more stable than Vista but Vista isnt as bad you make it out to be. Vista is a good operating system. And so was XP and so will be 7. Hardcore users are more haters than windows users and if you want a complete switch linux has to improve their interface. I use both operating systems and i like them both but to the average man the simplicity and beauty of Windows will always win his heart.
LG
January 15, 2009
i can’t think of many, but i don’t mind tinkering around.
that is how we learn.
jonny rocket
February 18, 2009
The first time I installed Ubuntu onto my crappy little Acer it took several SEVERAL hours to get my wireless adapter working.
The second time it only took a couple hours.
Perhaps this can be attributed to my unfamiliarity with Linux but it’s still an issue that needs to be resolved.
All around I’m enjoying Ubuntu as slow introduction to Linux though I also feel like there is a lot left to be fixed, upgraded, added, or just done better.
Chibikiba
March 9, 2009
oh some one trying to put scratches on moon
there is no point in these reason, or blaming default setting if u don’t like it there is lots of distro out there, u might find one of ur choice or requirements i don’t then modify one even if thats not enough build ur own no one gona stop u
sorry my English is bad
agtio
March 10, 2009
I have a feeling Ubuntu is developing too little stuff itself, it’s kinda like they import every good feature from other distros, but develop (& give away) their own too little. To me, they are “thieves” number one – first from debian, then suse, redhat, fedora… I HATE too much python code too! Python is good language, but it’s not good when everything is in python – it’s just too slow + memory hog. Why they don’t stick with ‘unix standard’ – shell code, or C code. And BOTH are faster + eat less memory if used apropriately (if script needs more than if-else/file-ops/exec other stuff/… – do it in C). Then, there’s looks too – it’s default look is one of the ugliest ones. And i have a feeling that ubuntu patches cause pretty large percent of ubuntu bugs – debian packages are cleaner and closer to upstream. But still, i use it for years now, and would never switch to other distro, except debian unstable maybe (i’ve been running debian unstable (and as root only) for 4-5 years without any major flaw – almost all could be easily fixed by (debian) user). I use Ubuntu because it gives me debian (so i can do anything i want with it, plus .deb package system), it has best “documentation” (forum) for common issues/stuff (and advanced stuff is coming along too), and gives me somewhat supported & tested distro with software only 3 months old – it’s a compromise, but i just don’t have time & will for life on the bleeding edge (debian unstable) – it’s just too much time consuming (every day there are at 10-50 updates available and every week you “hit” at least one “minor” glitch).
Rasta Freak
March 11, 2009
@Rasta Freak
I agree with you on the part where python can get slow at times, although I dont think Ubuntu is stealing, even if they put in absolutely no code, open source still allows them to redistribute under the same license.
kumailht
March 11, 2009
Nice start….let’s constructively criticize and improve it……Its good for the product.
When the Linux/Ubuntu geeks are passionate about it, ordinary 80% who started out with windows will get stranded in the middle.. Unless its user friendly, it can’t capture a greater share in operating systems.
Jugz
March 12, 2009
> 2. Limited screen estate. When I start browsing in firefox, the 3 panels in ff + the
> window bar + the 2 panels ubuntu has by default leaves me with very less horizontal
> space.
Yes. I don’t understand why there is TWO windows bar by default in Gnome. It’s really bad. One good optimized bar – more what need. Default Firefox theme to big – and must be changed to more beautiful and wan’t to much space to, may be Ubuntu special? Making good theme what looks more cool what in IE8 very easy.
Any good designer out there?
Anyway all of them customizable.
> The forums are filled with unanswered questions and duplicate threads;
Many information about Linux – no matter what distro you like so…
I WANT TECHNET FOR LINUX!!! I WANT TECHNET FOR LINUX!!! I WANT TECHNET FOR LINUX!!! I WANT TECHNET FOR LINUX!!! I WANT TECHNET FOR LINUX!!! I WANT TECHNET FOR LINUX!!!
I WANT 20 Gigs GOOD ACTUAL and No matter what distro i use information about using Linux and how develop software for Linux !!!
guest
March 26, 2009
1. Agree-in-part, since it is changeable and there is Compiz, and macos-like themes etc
But common dialogs are fat and unwieldy…so yes.
2. mostly Disagree… you can configure the interface! But… the old-style windows navigator and dialogs, again, are at fault , being fat and unwieldy
3. Quit whining douche. Change the homepage. Combined with points 1 and 2 that allow configuration, You are one lazy mofofag, you know that?
4. Quit whining. You are whining that there are too many screensavers. Remember that your opinion is subjective. You could probably remove them if you wanted to.
5. Speed is no worse than any other OS. A little faster is always nicer, but not especially a problem ffs.
6. Agreed if you are talking about the average windows user, but pointless outburst since they wouldn’t be downloading it anyway or visiting the home page. Others interested would usually go to a review site/Youtube for a better impression or demonstration, so again, pointless.
7. Had no problems with networking. However you are probably right about the laptop functions (mic+webcam)…pidgin is sucky because it cant do it….attribute that to the disdainful attitude of developers
8. No opinion…but lock screen?? standby? I’ve had no problems yet. power management could probably be improved (i dont know if cpu throttling is supported), but you can turn off effects to minimise cpu/gpu activity
9. almost certainly true
10. huh?
So you get, what…. a few points thrown in with some whining. Yes, Ubuntu is ugly…so is every other os like it, but some of that can be corrected and we can *hope* that some refinements can be made around that area. But some of the biggest problems with Ubuntu are things it can’t do much about:
- applications, with their sometimes more refined interfaces and relatively good features (webcam/mic support with instant messengers), but then ubuntu is free, so not much can be expected
- and games
But yes, the OS itself needs some improvement still with managing fiiles and presenting media
madrasbeef
April 1, 2009
As a Microsoft Certified Consultant I have many reasons to hate Ubuntu:
1- Open free software may threaten the dominance our multi-billion dollar market leaders;
2- Open free software may reduce sales for companies that depend exclusively on proprietary software;
3- Open free software may cost the job of people that have invested all their lives on becoming certified exclusively on Microsoft products;
4- Open free software is a treat for the dominance of software patents and royalties;
5- Open free software reduces the possibilities to lock customers on proprietary solutions;
6-Open free software is a treat for the growth of sales of proprietary software in developing countries;
7-Open free desktop software has a better performance than the market leading operating system;
8-Open free desktop software is safer and will threaten the antivirus software market;
9-Open free software increases dangerously the awareness of what we are paying for;
10-Open free software will eventually force a change of the status quo of the world and of the software market.
my 2 billion USD contribution
Macrohard
April 12, 2009
@Macrohard
Thanks for the comment! Its a great addition to this post 
Damn, You scared me there for a minute
kumailht
April 12, 2009
I used Ubuntu on a laptop that I carried around for 6 months. Nothing else allowed and the settings were corporate.
Lots of issues when it comes to using it in a real Windows-dominated place.
Namely:
1- network printers support : baaad. Had to change the printing system for detecting network printers. Printout were not precise enough, some glitches here and there, looking not too professional.
2- wifi: issues happening all the time when dealing with Cisco enterprise access points: a true nightmare
3-power management: weak point for Linux. With XP, the battery lasted 3h+. With Linux 1.5h, even with heavy tweaking.
4-external monitors and projector support. xrandr is no way to do things when you do a presentation to management and the system decides to not do your bidding.
5-OpenOffice : PPT compatibility is a myth. WMF drawings are ok in Linux and turn out to be shitty in PowerPoint when opened there.
6-usb key support : keys got erased for no reason. Files do not show up. Formatting was a joke.
7-Standby/Hibernate/Resume: too bad, was working 8 times out of ten (when lucky).
8-Spent 20%+ of my time getting the system to work instead of getting work done. Linux is a productivity sink in that respect.
9-Dia was giving different renderings on windows and on linux for the same file… bad !
10-Video format support was pretty lame, pictures too bright, requiring trying out various rendering systems etc. Ate up chunks of the remaining 80% of productivity.
11-Creative Zen support for podcasts: very bad, not working at times.
Conclusion: the laptop is back to WinXP and Ubuntu runs inside a VM where all hardware is managed properly by Windows. No issue since then.
Plus points of Ubuntu: CodeBlocks works fine in there where as it is shit to get working inside Windows.
Conclusion2: I am running Inkscape and Scribus + the Gimp in Windows now. They work great.
Philippe Back
April 21, 2009
Just one comment to the one about the low ratio of Linux to Windows users: what’s the problem with that? So what if the majority of the population is computer illiterate and can’t deal with a little bit of sophistication and “free will,” as it were, to use open source software? Not being mainstream is a good thing in my opinion. It’s what keeps us safe!
monica h.
April 26, 2009
The problem, Monica, is that there is a reason that Linux is not more widely used, and it is not because everyone using Windows is computer illiterate. Philippe is completely on the nose – Linux can be an incredible productivity sink. Whether I know how to fix drivers that break is irrelevant. What matters is that I’m spending my time doing things I shouldn’t have to. So far, something is ALWAYS broken when I install Ubuntu on a machine. Why in the world would this be fun to anyone? And how in the world is this sophisticated? A sophisticated OS would have me not worry about these issues, but still give me plenty of customization options should I want them. And Windows (XP) indeed manages to do that quite well.
Dean
April 28, 2009
VERTICAL screenspace is the problem with the two panels, if they don’t autohide. My first job is to get Gnome-do as ‘docky’ at the bottom for my window switching, delete that panel, add a left side panel for the notifications and disk mounter, shortcuts (default in Crunchbang) Super + T for terminal, E for explore, F for Firefox, O for opera etc etc
The top bar stays, I quite like the ‘globalmenu’ as it saves vertical screenspace on every window you have – and set it to autohide.
Ben2talk
June 6, 2009
I just installed Ubuntu and I have none of these screen issues you’re talking about. Then again, I used the package manager and spent an hour tweaking the installation to my liking. So maybe I’m not actually really using Ubuntu, but rather Debian with a slightly easier configuration.
Ken
October 26, 2009
the main reason to hate Ubuntu is the people who use it.
pff
February 11, 2010
Websites that link to this post