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Ubuntu AI Operating Systems Software

Ubuntu's AI Plans Have Linux Users Looking For a 'Kill Switch' (theverge.com) 36

Posted by BeauHD from the year-of-the-AI-linux-desktop dept.
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.

Ubuntu's AI Plans Have Linux Users Looking For a 'Kill Switch' More | Reply

Ubuntu's AI Plans Have Linux Users Looking For a 'Kill Switch'

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  • easy solution (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday April 29, 2026 @06:06PM (#66119164)
    Don't use freaking Ubuntu. The debacle with the Gnu coreutils replacement -- shipping an LTS version with broken replacements -- should have been the straw that broke the camel's back. Debian is fine now, just use Debian.

    • 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

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Tablizer ( 95088 )

        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.

        "Old" isn't necessarily bad. What's an example of a practical problem with this?

        • Can't make kde drag and drop behavior sane

      • yes but also no (Score:2, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward

        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

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by sjames ( 1099 )

          Perhaps you need to run the 'testing' release, currently forky. That gets you much more current software versions.

        • 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.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by gweihir ( 88907 )

        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.

    • 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. "Simple" stuff becomes undoable. I p*ss on RTFM. Ubuntu itself is no prize, with zero (0) improvement in usability over the last 10 years; behind a thin veneer of GUI Linux is still nekbeards all the way down. Who can afford APPLE ( apropos for analogic/intuitive/iterative usrland ) and no

  • 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.

    • 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.

    • 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

  • The kill switch has a name. Thy name is 'Manjaro'.

  • Move on (Score:4, Informative)

    by markdavis ( 642305 ) on Wednesday April 29, 2026 @06:41PM (#66119244)

    >"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]

  • Where they can mine their users for training data. That training data is what makes AI work because it's really just a super duper fancy predictive search engine. So that training data is worth billions if not trillions.

    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)

    by sarren1901 ( 5415506 ) on Wednesday April 29, 2026 @06:50PM (#66119268)

    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.

    • >"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

      • 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.

  • 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?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by gweihir ( 88907 )

      They are definitely trying to create a "too big to fail" situation. But I do not think they will get there.

  • The kill switch is called Debian (Score:3)

    by dskoll ( 99328 ) on Wednesday April 29, 2026 @07:15PM (#66119328) Homepage

    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 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.

  • 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

  • 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.

    • FTA "AI features will be landing in Ubuntu throughout the next year as we feel that they’re of sufficient maturity and quality, with a bias toward local inference by default." Then the article talks about local inference a bunch, take that as you will.
  • The moment I need to tell Ubuntu's AI to stay out of my stuff I'm gone.
    Been a solid run with Ubuntu LTS versions but there are other options available.

  • Torvalds... Why would it not work well for other Linux users?

  • My editor keeps asking me to tell me more about these features..

  • I havenâ(TM)t swapped distros in a long time. Whats it like? Any useful utilities for making the transition not awful, or do we still just make backups and restore?

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