Ubuntu's AI Plans Have Linux Users Looking For a 'Kill Switch' (theverge.com) 61
Canonical's plan to add AI features to Ubuntu has sparked pushback from users who are concerned it could follow Windows 11's AI-heavy direction. "After Canonical's announcement earlier this week that it's bringing AI features to Ubuntu, replies included requests for an AI 'kill switch' or a way to disable the upcoming features," reports The Verge. Canonical says it has no plans for a "global AI kill switch" but it will allow users to remove any AI features they don't want. From the report: In his original post, [Canonical's VP of engineering, Jon Seager] said the upcoming AI features will include accessibility tools like AI speech-to-text and text-to-speech, along with agentic AI features for tasks like troubleshooting and automation. Canonical is also encouraging its engineers to use AI more and plans to begin introducing AI features in Ubuntu "throughout the next year."
In a follow-up comment, Seager clarified that, "my plan is to introduce AI-backed features as a 'preview' on a strictly opt-in basis in [Ubuntu version] 26.10. In subsequent releases, my plan is to have a step in the initial setup wizard that allows the user to choose whether or not they'd like the AI-native features enabled." Ultimately, he said, "All of these capabilities will be delivered as Snaps to the OS, layered on top of the existing Ubuntu stack. That means there will always be the option of removing those Snaps." Users who prefer to avoid AI entirely could switch to other distros like Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, or Zorin OS. "These distros have some similarities to Ubuntu, but may not necessarily adopt the new AI features Canonical is rolling out," adds The Verge.
In a follow-up comment, Seager clarified that, "my plan is to introduce AI-backed features as a 'preview' on a strictly opt-in basis in [Ubuntu version] 26.10. In subsequent releases, my plan is to have a step in the initial setup wizard that allows the user to choose whether or not they'd like the AI-native features enabled." Ultimately, he said, "All of these capabilities will be delivered as Snaps to the OS, layered on top of the existing Ubuntu stack. That means there will always be the option of removing those Snaps." Users who prefer to avoid AI entirely could switch to other distros like Linux Mint, Pop!_OS, or Zorin OS. "These distros have some similarities to Ubuntu, but may not necessarily adopt the new AI features Canonical is rolling out," adds The Verge.
easy solution (Score:5, Informative)
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I do use Debian, but it's still a fact that its versions of a lot of software are very, very old. Like, multiple major versions old. There's very good reasons to not want to run it.
I was running Pop!OS for a while and I was pretty happy with it. I switched to Debian in a vain attempt to get support from Steam, but as it turns out, they just do not provide support to Linux users when their client is failing. They came up with another shitty excuse for why they couldn't help me after I switched to Debian (whi
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"Old" isn't necessarily bad. What's an example of a practical problem with this?
Re: easy solution (Score:2)
Can't make kde drag and drop behavior sane
PCI (was Re:easy solution) (Score:2)
The PCI nonsense is easy to get around by configuring the relevant daemons not to report any version at all, or even to lie about the version.
PCI testing is a giant BS scam anyway; the scanners are way too simplistic to catch actual problems and so rigid that they report many false-positives.
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The PCI nonsense is easy to get around by configuring the relevant daemons not to report any version at all, or even to lie about the version.
TLS. Sometimes you have to have something more recent. That said, I'm not sure the latest stable Debian has ever had TLS libraries that failed current PCI requirements, and getting a more recent version isn't difficult compared to other PCI hoop jumping.
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Can't download the latest security updates, because *Nix is only secure with the latest updates!
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Because, that's what we're (y'know, the sheeple) are told!
Because, if the "old" version (however old that one is) was safe and secure, why release another version?
They aren't making tons of money off it, that's for sure... it shouldn't be 'out the door' if it's not safe and secure for the typical 'user' to use it and do stuff with it.
The end user's setup should be "safe and secure", regardless of OS... an antivirus/antimalware outfit of some kind, the modem's firewall should be enough (though a software one
yes but also no (Score:2, Informative)
Debian releases every two years, and they have a sane release cycle which freezes software versions some months before release. So the latest version of Debian is 13 aka "Trixie," and it includes GCC version 14.2. GCC 15 was released in April 2025, and Trixie was released in August 2025. So right now it's one major release behind. When GCC 16 is released in a few months, at that point Debian will be two major versions of gcc behind. And it's possible that in 2026 a third version of gcc will be released befo
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Perhaps you need to run the 'testing' release, currently forky. That gets you much more current software versions.
IOW, Debian stable is like Ubuntu LTS (Score:2)
Debian releases every two years, and they have a sane release cycle which freezes software versions some months before release.
So basically the same thing that Ubuntu's two-year "LTS" track does. Ubuntu 24.04 "noble" is feeling fairly old at the moment. Ubuntu 26.04 "resolute" was released a week ago to users on the semiannual "interim" track, and it'll be offered to LTS users come the first point release about three months from now. Drinkypoo has a point, however, that Debian has no direct counterpart to Ubuntu's interim track.
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Generally, Debian has a good eye for what needs updates and what does not. And they also do patch-backporting for some things. If you are on "stable" it generally is fine.
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Mint was made for you.
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>Debian is not easy for a casual unsupported user to run. I did lots of searches into forums for Devuan and MX ; in both cases the number of gotchas increased exponentially with search effort.
You shouldn't conflate plain old Debian with more specialized offshoots such as Devuan and MX. Debian is actually pretty good for casual "all I need is a browser, e-mail client and some kind of word processor" users, aka parents. I moved my 86 year old father to Debian Trixie and it's been smooth sailing...
I guess I stop using Ubuntu (Score:5, Insightful)
One of the things I like about Linux is that it's common to follow a philosophy of "start with nothing then add what you need" rather than "throw in everything and good luck trying to remove anything problematic".
Make it an optional component suggested during the installation procedure and it's fine. Force it on everyone and you're undermining good security and I have to suspect you're doing it for reasons I wouldn't like.
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Wait... now? You are stopping to use Ubuntu now? Due to this announcement? You have a philosophy of having only what you need on the OS, and ... you were using Ubuntu prior to today? What is wrong with you.
I think you're virtue signalling. You're either not actually using Ubuntu (since it was not remotely aligned with your philosophy prior to this announcement), or you have no intention of actually stopping to use it. Your post is nonsensical.
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You have a philosophy of having only what you need on the OS
He didn't say that. Before you reply to people with such surly condescension, you need to make sure you actually understand what they said.
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Personally, I like Ubuntu. Its been really stable, easy to use, does what I want.
I like AI too. Is that going to get me roasted? I use it at work and it has gotten much better in the past year or so, so I use it a lot at work now. And I chat anonymously with Gemini because it can hold a philosophical conversation with me better than most people I know.
I don't like being spied-on of course. So I will probably be disabling the various AI features that they are baking into the OS. I have no need for text
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I chat anonymously with Gemini because it can hold a philosophical conversation with me better than most people I know.
You should probably keep stuff like that to yourself.
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Is that going to get me roasted?
likely!
So I will probably be disabling the various AI features that they are baking into the OS.
according to this communication, you won't have to: it's all opt in, which is the sane way to go about it. i don't need these features either, and i don't see myself letting "agents" doing stuff by themselves on my system anytime soon, but "ai" is very relevant tech today and it's good news that distros start considering support, as long as user choice and privacy are considered. otoh it is evolving so fast that i don't really see it as something that should be integrated at the os level yet. then a
It has a name (Score:2)
Move on (Score:5, Informative)
>"Ubuntu has sparked pushback from users who are concerned"
Mint: https://www.linuxmint.com/down... [linuxmint.com]
Mint Debian: https://www.linuxmint.com/down... [linuxmint.com]
Debian: https://www.debian.org/ [debian.org]
Everybody wants an AI platform (Score:1)
There isn't a single platform holder on planet Earth that isn't going to try to get their hands on that training data.
Yeah this will probably backfire on Ubuntu but if it doesn't the owners are going to get filthy stinking rich. It's the kind of gamble that's worth it.
Hopefully not Xubuntu (Score:3)
I'm hoping Xubuntu doesn't also follow this track. I get that it's closely related, so I may be screwed but I'm still gonna "hope". More hopefulness is that if I just stick to LTS 24 and not move onto 26 or above, I should be fine for a while.
Otherwise, yeah, I may have to migrate away. Luckily there are many options and I'm sure I can find another one that will let me use XFCE as opposed to KDE or Gnome.
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>"I may have to migrate away. [...]I'm sure I can find another one that will let me use XFCE as opposed to KDE or Gnome."
"Light, simple, efficient: Linux Mint Xfce Edition: Xfce is a lightweight desktop environment. It doesn't support as many features as Cinnamon but itâ(TM)s lighter on resource usage."
https://www.linuxmint.com/down... [linuxmint.com]
Mint also has the popular Cinnamon Edition and also the MATE Edition as well. But it doesn't matter which "edition" you download/install, since you can easily install
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Nice. I remember doing that with Slackware quite a while back as well. At one point I even toyed with the build your own distro but who has the time for all that.
Re: Hopefully not Xubuntu (Score:2)
Is there such a thing as a Linux distro that doesn't let you choose your desktop environment? Anyhow I can recommend Debian.
AI is a disease, a virus (Score:1)
So looks like AI is taking over everything, every platform, every product, every service, every job, it's a plague, a virus, a disease of some sort and apparently there is no cure, someone is always pushing it. Is it AI that is pushing AI?
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They are definitely trying to create a "too big to fail" situation. But I do not think they will get there.
Ubuntu is slowly becoming MS Win (Score:1)
Re:Ubuntu is slowly becoming MS Win (Score:5, Informative)
Slowly becoming? They've been this way for more than a decade: remember the whole Unity debacle?
Way back in 2010, LInux had two (major) UIs: KDE and GNOME. Canonical (specifically, Mark Shuttleworth) tried to force everyone to adopt a brand new system, Unity, despite the fact that no one asked for it. It was a straight up Bill Gates "We have the most market share, we can do whatever the fuck we want" power play.
It didn't work: the larger Linux community revolted. But it took Shuttleworth SEVEN YEARS to give up and finally appreciate that he wasn't a god who got to dictate what the Linux community ... and clearly he never really learned that lesson.
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The kill switch is called Debian (Score:5, Interesting)
Debian is the answer. While a decade or so ago, Ubuntu was easier to install and more polished, Debian has pretty much caught up in terms of polish.
AI (Score:2)
AI speech to text and text to speech would be a great addition for the accessibility subsystem. The current screen reader software voice sucks really, really bad. AI speech would be a great improvement. But that's the only place I can imagine where AI would be a benefit. Scratch that. If AI could do great handwriting recognition, that would also be a great boon.
At last - a reason to like Snaps! (Score:2)
All of these capabilities will be delivered as Snaps to the OS, layered on top of the existing Ubuntu stack. That means there will always be the option of removing those Snaps.
It sounds as though it will be pretty easy for Mint to leave out the AI stuff. And they're already well used to taking the Snaps out of upstream Ubuntu and substituting packages.
But at some point it may be the case that stripping the Snapification from Ubuntu might be too onerous a task. Sometime in the next couple of years, LMDE may be the only edition of Mint available. So far I've been too lazy to install LMDE and start evaluating / getting used to it. I guess it's time to get up off my ass and see if it
Are these cloud features? (Score:3)
Or features that run natively? who cares if it runs natively, if this can't canonical trying to get it hooks and your PC then yeah reject it.
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As an Ubuntu LTS user my red line is! (Score:2)
Been a solid run with Ubuntu LTS versions but there are other options available.
AI works well for Greg Kroah-Hartman and Linus (Score:2)
Torvalds... Why would it not work well for other Linux users?
Re: AI works well for Greg Kroah-Hartman and Linus (Score:2)
Nobody is arguing that AI shouldn't be usable on Linux. The argument is about what kind of choice the users are given.
Remove any AI features they don't want (Score:2)
My editor keeps asking me to tell me more about these features..
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My editor keeps asking me to tell me more about these features..
Switch to vi.
Thatâ(TM)s it for me fam (Score:2)
Follow the money (Score:3)
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Nobody is saying that AI should not be on Ubuntu - they just want the ability to easily not have it. Ie have the choice - which is what Linux systems are famous for.
Local or hosted AI? (Score:2)
Is this AI that will run locally on your own hardware (like llama-ccp and so on) or is it a way to sell you time on someone else's AI?
I don't need a kill switch. (Score:3)
Ubuntu is Done - Mint LMDE Debian Version (Score:2)
Something is seriously wrong... (Score:2)
with the current generation of young programmers. They clearly do not know the difference between an operating system and applications. Nobody should be trying to add AI to Windows, or to Linux, or to any other OS. The OS is supposed to add a layer of abstraction to the platform, so applications can be written and then run on multiple systems with hardware differences. The OS is supposed to allocate resources to applications. The modern OS is supposed to allow multiple applications to run at the same time o
Debian is comfy, no Ubuntu required. (Score:2)
Remember Canonical solely exists because Debian was not new-user friendly.
Things are different now.
Other distros thrive where Canonical has no interest as Canonical thrives where Debian took no interest.
Specialization is easy with Linux.
Snap (Score:2)
Oh, good, they're only snaps.
Because snaps are shite and I turned them off.
Brand-new, fresh, Framework, highly-Linux-supported laptop, clean install of Ubuntu on it, over Christmas.
I'm willing to try almost anything... so I went with the defaults.
And within the first week I found myself uninstalling every snap package and replacing it with a traditional apt one.
Steam snap - simply doesn't work. It makes it look like Steam is shite, in fact, and it loads but NONE of the games work properly. Uninstalled the
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RAM isn't the issue.
But some software is trapped forever in old, outdated (and insecure) versions and never gets updated.
Some software is trapped in a "bottle" and you can't explore the filesystem (e.g. you can't save your downloads / other files created in it anywhere sensible without tweaking a load of things).
And some software just plain doesn't work but it's still on the store.
If I were to introduce a newbie to Linux, they would be led to use snap, and so much would be incredibly frustrating / out of da
With some provisos it's fine (Score:2)
Open source really needs a licence akin to GPL for models and their training data to share and share alike. There is an opportunity also here for sites, authors, artists etc. to tag content to invite and consent to using their data for training ope