There was. It was just one distribution of many (Ubuntu), just one version of it in fact (Unity Ubuntu, Xubuntu or Kubuntu or whatever is Gnome Ubuntu called d

There was. It was just one distribution of many (Ubuntu), just one version of it in fact (Unity Ubuntu, Xubuntu or Kubuntu or whatever is Gnome Ubuntu called didn't include it) and it was not only possible (unlike in Windows 8 and 10) but also rather easy to remove.