Ubuntu shipped ads from Amazon back in the late 00s. I stopped using them then and haven’t touched them since.
this post was submitted on 06 Mar 2025
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Thank you so much for your useful input.
Glad to help. I’m highly suspicious of any corporation backed distributions.
Anybody can get Ubuntu Pro for free on up to five devices: https://ubuntu.com/pro/subscribe
Why Ubuntu pro when you can have Linux Mint for free indefinitely
Does ffmpeg ship with a fixed version of ffmpeg?
It sure seems that way. Their "extended security maintenance" spam says that there are security updates that are only available if you "subscribe".
I asked the Linux community about this, and didn't get a straight answer (not surprised.)
It was enough for me to switch to Debian, though. There's no excuse for updates to be locked behind paywalls or sign-ups in the free software ecosystem.
The way I understand it is that the security team supports releases for 5 years. If you are running an older version of ubuntu than that and want security backports, you need to get the extended support. The difference in Debian is that when a release is too old, the security team simply doesn't backport security fixes. You can pay someone to do it, but it's not a part of what Debian as a project does.
The Ubuntu security team only supports the ~2,000 packages in "main"
Things like ffmpeg are in "universe" and only get security updates if you subscribe to Ubuntu Pro
ubuntu.com/security/esm
Debian's security team has always been significantly more responsive than Ubuntu. It's regularly had CVE fixes in older versions of Debian that newer versions of Ubuntu don't bother to pull into universe
Yes. Ubuntu has two main repos, main and universe.
main is relatively small and includes everything that comes with Ubuntu by default. Canonical secures this repo with security fixes for everyone.
universe is not officially supported by Canonical. It's updates are done by community members. However, Ubuntu started a service called Ubuntu Pro / ESM that provides updates for packages in universe. It's opt in because Canonical wants companies using Ubuntu to pay for Pro in order to help fund Ubuntu. However, Pro is also free for personal use on up to 5 machines, so there's no reason not to enable it. f it was enabled by default then no one would pay for it.
Thanks for the info, I'd seen the pro option but just assumed I didn't want it, like pretty much everything thing else labelled "pro".
My issue is that I don’t want to have to register for shit like that. If it’s security related, and it’s a free Linux distro (e.g. not RHEL, etc), it is absolutely not appropriate to diminish anonymity in exchange for those updates, or to paywall them.
It's hardly diminishing your anonymity. There are plenty of services to create an anonymous email account.
This is a very accurate explanation. ☝️
However, Ubuntu started a service called Ubuntu Pro / ESM that provides updates for packages in universe.
Since it's all free software, what gives Ubuntu the privilege to restrict these updates behind paywalls and signups?
Pro is also free for personal use on up to 5 machines, so there’s no reason not to enable it.
Fuck that bullshit. We shouldn't be encouraging or enabling this behavior at all.
Those who are against it probably would just move away from Ubuntu. For those who aren't, I don't see why they shouldn't register for Ubuntu Pro. It's not in the spirit of the free software ecosystem, but not everyone needs to have the same level of commitment to free software.
IMO, hearing about Ubuntu Pro reinforces my decision to stick to Ubuntu derivatives like Mint, and it's making me consider trying options like LMDE or straight up Debian.
GPL does not restrict you from selling the software, though you can't stop getting distributed by someone who bought it. Even RMS himself sold Emacs back in the day.
EDIT: I'm not saying it's justified in moral sense, I think it sucks ass. But it's not against the licence.
GPL does not restrict you from selling the software
Oh god, we know.
Practically speaking though, if anyone can redistribute it for free then it's available for free.
You don't seem to understand the difference between free as in freedom and free as in beer that is literally the cornerstone of the free software community.
Canonical is making the security patches.
Also, you don’t have to release your source code changes to the public. You only have to release your changes to those who have access to the product.
That being said, Canonical probably does release the source code changes for their security fixes, I just don’t know where.
And people ask me "why" when I chose LMDE over Ubuntu-based Linux Mint.
This shit is why. Canonical is huffing their own farts at this point. Don't dangle shit in front of me if it comes at a price. And yes, I know Linux Mint isn't under Canonical, but at this point I would rather not support anything Ubuntu-related.
Just wait or switch distros. All the security updates they hold hostage for money come eventually. If you're not a bank or wanted by a major world power, I doubt anyone is going pwn you with a security fix Ubuntu is slow walking to force people into pro. Since they started that shit I don't put Ubuntu on new hardware, but I'm not going to purge servers I have it on because I'm worried someone's going to deploy a sub-month old vulnerability against me as a rando doing nothing important.
You only get security updates for packages in main. If you want them for packages in universe, like ffmpeg, you have to use esm or upgrade to 24.10.
That's not quite accurate. The community can still upload fixed packages to universe, just as the community runs universe in the first place.
So LTS isn't really LTS.
Glad I switched to Debian.
It's the difference in OS version;
- 24.04 has ffmpeg_6.1.1-3ubuntu5
- 24.10 has ffmpeg_7.0.2-3ubuntu1
So if you want ffmpeg from main, upgrade to 24.10, otherwise you can only get ffmpeg in 24.04 by waiting until its added to main, using Ubuntu Pro, or compiling from source.
ffmpeg is not in main in any version