There are substitutes, but they are of such poor quality and such user unfriendliness that they&#x27;re inaccessible to all but the most technically inclined, patient and sympathetic users.<p>That&#x27;s sort of the story of desktop Linux, to be honest.<p>And Ubuntu was keytracking in searches, collects data on its users usage, and does centralized update authority as well. It&#x27;s <i>marginally</i> better for a <i>substantially</i> inferior experience with <i>much worse</i> hardware support. Especially if you&#x27;re on a modern laptop.