Ubuntu is nothing but a Linux distribution. The job of a distribution is to provide packages, not dictate to you which packages you must use. I use Ubuntu beca

Ubuntu is nothing but a Linux distribution. The job of a distribution is to provide packages, not dictate to you which packages you must use. I use Ubuntu because it seems to still be the desktop distro most widely supported by third-party apps and drivers, and I have had good success with release upgrades. Otherwise, if I had any problem with Ubuntu's package repos, there's no reason not to use Debian or Fedora instead. Among desktop distros, Debian stable is great if you think Ubuntu LTS doesn't have a long enough lifespan, Fedora is great if you have a little more experience with Linux and want faster package updates. Both Debian and Fedora have always had more 'hacker cred' than Ubuntu without losing the benefits of being mainstream distros, if that is what you are looking for. If you want even more hacker cred, try BSDs, Slackware, Arch, Gentoo. Canonical isn't forcing anything upon you or anyone else. They aren't doing anything unethical with Unity's design. Nor is there anything to distinguish your opinion as more worth listening to than others'. As a private company, it is Canonical's choice how they spend their money and try to build market share. You can type 'sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop' in seconds. You aren't paying anything for it. And there are really no external forces pushing you to use Ubuntu over anything else. It's just a distribution of packages. Serve yourself however you please - this shouldn't be a problem for you, since you are complaining that Ubuntu has abandoned 'hackers'.