The product serves as an essential operating system for starting a PC. Once the system is up, users can install applications, browse the internet, and perform various tasks. It serves as the foundation for daily computing activities.
Head of Business at Variyas Labs Pvt Ltd
Customizable product with robust security features
Pros and Cons
- "Since Ubuntu is freely available for download and use, there is virtually no investment required, resulting in a high ROI."
- "The main challenge is restoring the system from a crashed state, which can be complicated for non-technical users."
What is our primary use case?
How has it helped my organization?
The primary benefits of using Ubuntu include its reliability, security, and cost-effectiveness. It provides a robust operating system foundation for various computing tasks, making it an invaluable tool for both personal and professional use.
What is most valuable?
Apart from a subscription based pricing, the product's free version is highly useful, offering multiple graphical user interface (desktop environments) options. Ubuntu can be installed on server (server verion), workstation & standard PC, also it is available as Ubuntu terminal environment on Windows with Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL). This caters to a wide range of system and user needs. Its Linux-based nature makes it preferred among technical professionals, including developers and network administrators.
What needs improvement?
The main challenge is restoring the system from a crashed state, which can be complicated for non-technical users. However, with experience, this becomes more manageable.
Buyer's Guide
Ubuntu Linux
February 2026
Learn what your peers think about Ubuntu Linux. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2026.
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For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Ubuntu for around six to seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The platform is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The platform is scalable. It is used by all users in my organization, totaling around 200 executives who use Ubuntu for learning. Developers primarily use it daily for various tasks.
How was the initial setup?
The setup process for the product is straightforward, offering both graphical and non-graphical installation options. Improvements could include bug fixes, enhancements, and upgrades, which are typically addressed in future releases.
What about the implementation team?
Implementing Ubuntu is easy and can be done in-house without the need for external support. Creating a bootable USB installer and following the installation process is typically all that's required.
What was our ROI?
Since Ubuntu is freely available for download and use, there is virtually no investment required, resulting in a high ROI.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Ubuntu is essentially free to download and use, making it accessible to anyone without the need for licensing costs.
What other advice do I have?
The highly secure and customizable product makes it a preferred choice for regular users and hackers. Its open-source nature allows for extensive customization, while its robust security features protect against various threats.
Its reliability makes it suitable for both personal and enterprise use.
The product is excellent for individuals or organizations seeking a free and reliable operating system. It is well-suited for technical users, developers, and those working in data centers or network environments.
I rate the product a nine out of ten for its overall performance and reliability.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Enterprise Solutions Architect at OORWIN LABS INC
Managing tasks and troubleshooting errors is straightforward thanks to its user-friendly interface and comprehensive error alerting system
What is our primary use case?
We use Ubuntu Linux to manage various services, such as installing software like Python, PHP, and other server-side applications. Additionally, we install .NET and web applications using PHP, NGINX, and MySQL.
What is most valuable?
Ubuntu Linux stands out compared to others in terms of performance. Its smooth operation and ease of use make it a preferred choice for many users. With Ubuntu, managing tasks and troubleshooting errors is straightforward thanks to its user-friendly interface and comprehensive error alerting system. Ubuntu is an open-source platform that allows easy access to error logs, making identifying and addressing issues simple.
What needs improvement?
Ubuntu Linux is good for one to two years. We can easily identify the line numbers and everything we could be able to see. Additionally, we have stable and standard paths for root directories, so we can easily remember those folder setups.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Ubuntu Linux for six years. We are using the V18.04 and V20.04 of the solution.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We haven't experienced any downtime till today. I rate the solution's stability a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable. We are using ECS for our backend, running ECS instances exclusively. Depending on the task requirements, we can easily scale up without limitations.
Around 15k users are using this solution. It is on autoscaling. We are maintaining load balancer. Whenever it writes automatically, it will spin up additional added sources.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is simple and takes 10-15 minutes to complete. We can do it by simple commands. When writing a simple ML file, we can employ uncomplicated syntax. With Docker Hub, we can readily retrieve this operating system, and through simple commands, installation can be automated, upgrading to the latest version seamlessly.
What about the implementation team?
The solution is in the dedicated hosting. We spin up training instances by writing simple comments.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is free of cost.
What other advice do I have?
Typically, we disable automatic updates for production services. However, we enable auto-updates on our side in development environments. Even for free servers, we do not allow automatic upgrades for any new changes. This is because it may take some time to reflect, and sometimes the server fails health checks.
Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Buyer's Guide
Ubuntu Linux
February 2026
Learn what your peers think about Ubuntu Linux. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: February 2026.
884,933 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Department Leader: Project Leadership Production Compact at SKODA AUTO a.s.
A highly stable and scalable solution that can be useful for running applications
Pros and Cons
- "The product’s stability is valuable."
- "The user interface must be more user-friendly for non-technicians."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution as a file server. We also run some applications.
What is most valuable?
The product’s stability is valuable. The interface is okay.
What needs improvement?
The user interface must be more user-friendly for non-technicians.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for a few years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the tool’s stability a nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the tool’s scalability a nine out of ten. We have more than 100 users.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used Windows. I switched to Ubuntu because of its stability.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is easy for our technicians. The deployment takes one week. The product is cloud-based.
What about the implementation team?
We deployed the solution in-house. We have technicians.
What was our ROI?
Stability is very important to us.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Information Security and Compliance Officer at Carnation
A stable solution that is easy to access and deploy and has a helpful community of users
Pros and Cons
- "The integration with other solutions like Apache is valuable."
- "The vendor must provide an official support team."
What is our primary use case?
The solution is used for sandboxing and testing. We also have our production servers in Linux sometimes.
How has it helped my organization?
The product is easy to access and deploy. There are a lot of communities that help administrators with any challenges. Good support is available over the Internet. It is quite helpful for creating any server. Many communities are working on the upcoming advanced features and making them easier for the end users.
What is most valuable?
The integration with other solutions like Apache is valuable.
What needs improvement?
Official support is low. We’re mostly dependent on community users. The vendor must provide an official support team. Administration is a challenge. We need good skills for implementation.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for 10 to 12 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The product is quite stable. I rate the stability a nine out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The tool is scalable. I rate the scalability a nine out of ten. We usually publish our web servers on it. It is for production purposes. Five to six people from our organization are working on Linux administration. We also have developers developing applications on it.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We used CentOS. CentOS is now decommissioned, so we moved to Ubuntu Linux.
How was the initial setup?
I rate the ease of setup a seven out of ten. Ubuntu is a command-line tool. It will be a bit of a challenge for new users. The cloud deployment takes four to six hours. If we already have VMs on-premise, we can deploy them in four to six hours. We just need to install an image and build it in. Nowadays, we have readymade images available as a container. It hardly takes one hour to get the server up and running. One person is enough for the deployment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is open-sourced.
What other advice do I have?
If someone wants to create cheap servers, Ubuntu Linux is the best choice. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Technical Manager at PT.Prima Sarana Solusi
An easy-to-use solution for desktops, MCE with Kubernetes platform but lacks support, stability and scalability
Pros and Cons
- "Ubuntu Linux is easy to start, and MicroK8s is easy to deploy. Plug into the back-end storage and networking is also easy. It is good to start with 3-4 nodes, but hard to scale. For production grades like 20 or 100 nodes, we go with the RedHat for on-premise."
- "The support team is not good and needs to be improved. The user community is excellent and helpful, but some questions are unanswered. Also, stability and scalability could be improved."
What is most valuable?
Ubuntu Linux is easy to start, and MicroK8s is easy to deploy. Plug into the back-end storage and networking is also easy.
It is good to start with 3-4 nodes, but hard to scale. For production grades like 20 or 100 nodes, we go with the RedHat for on-premise.
What needs improvement?
The support team is not good and needs to be improved. The user community is excellent and helpful, but some questions are unanswered. Also, stability and scalability could be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Ubuntu Linux as an end user for six years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The tool could be more stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product’s scalability is not better. RedHat is better. We’ve more than ten users using this product. We plan to increase the usage when there is a requirement or specification.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is easy. Deploying OS is fast and takes less than a day.
We can do the installation on a small scale without consultants, but when it comes to scale.
Ubuntu is an OS. You need the specification, storage, network, IP, etc., and deploy it by orchestration or just do the standalone installation infrastructure.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
If the customer wants to start, there is no license required. It is all free, but they must purchase the production license.
What other advice do I have?
Mostly, the product is on-premise, but in some cases, we managed to deploy applications in the cloud.
The solution is easy and simple to start because of complete documentation. When you go for production, we must purchase the hardware and OS license.
Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
System Administrator at Figment Design Laboratories
Open-source with a great support community and seamless updating
Pros and Cons
- "It has improved our ability to carry out maintenance without downtime as migrating services between server environments is largely seamless."
- "On the desktop edition, we'd like more themes."
What is our primary use case?
I currently have the Ubuntu server edition installed across 200 Dell Servers running various projects, applications, and virtualization technologies. I have 70 Ubuntu Desktop editions running throughout my office, we have made a switch from Windows and will not be going back as the stability is incredible on an Ubuntu setup.
The installation is quickly done, the software is easily installed, and deployment can be automated across the workstation and server estates.
My support team also feels far more in control of their destiny when it comes to developing minor tools on the fly for their needs.
How has it helped my organization?
It has improved our ability to carry out maintenance without downtime as migrating services between server environments is largely seamless. Support for my users has become significantly easier as I can use Ubuntu tools to carry out the tasks on hand from a central location.
Ubuntu and other Unix operating systems have been community-driven so it's got tools that are community inspired and developed, with it being open-source, the cost is no longer a factor either and we can focus on providing the best possible solution to our customers.
What is most valuable?
There are far too many great features to mention, however, some are:
- Rsync for backups
- ZFS for snapshotting partitions
- LXD/LXC for containerization of services
- QEMU for Virtualisation of servers
- Seamless updating and upgrading
- Ansible for estate wide server administration
- Nagios for server monitoring
- Grafana with Prometheus/InfluxDB to provide metrics on performance
- LDAP for user management
These are only a few features that I make use of on a daily basis and from a sysadmin standpoint my life has become easier.
What needs improvement?
Ideally, I would like to have the following:
Server edition
- ZFS on the root (be able to natively install ZFS when carrying out the installation without hacking it together)
- Install grub at the start of the installation (it often can fail at the end of the installation causing some uphill but nothing major)
Desktop Edition
- More game support, specifically anti-cheat software is lacking support and hampering gaming on Linux
- More Nvidia GPU driver support
- Better WiFi driver releases from Intel
- More Themes
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Ubuntu server edition since 2010 and the desktop edition since 2011.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I have 200 real servers running Ubuntu with close to 1400 containers/VMs running the same operating system and it's supported all by two people since there are so many well-thought-out tools and bugs/issues that have been ironed out.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It can and has scaled almost endlessly in my environments. I have 200 servers running smoothly with long uptimes (the hardware has failed before the OS has).
How are customer service and support?
The Ubuntu and Linux community has been extremely helpful when it comes to issues we have experienced. Ubuntu logs data very well and it's often very self-explanatory how to resolve your issue if you do get stuck just pop onto the forums, post your issue and one of the gurus will have advice in no time.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were making use of the Windows server edition for servers and Windows XP/7 for desktops throughout the organization.
We made the switch due to constant ransomware attacks, driver issues, and a lack of support from Microsoft in South Africa.
How was the initial setup?
The installation had a bit of a learning curve, however, thanks to their well-documented installation process on their website, once I got the hang of it we were off to the races.
Learning how to use the CLI was different, however, has become part of my daily driving of the OS.
What about the implementation team?
We implemented everything in-house and developed the tools required for our organization if there wasn't something available off the shelf.
What was our ROI?
It's a free solution; it's paid for itself in leaps and bounds.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It's free and open source! Users should play and experiment to their heart's content and if they get stuck join the wonderful Ubuntu/Linux community to get the help you need.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We piloted with CentOS and RedHat, however, ultimately landed on Ubuntu as it was quickly rising in popularity and has become one of the most widely used in the world.
What other advice do I have?
The only way to get involved with Ubuntu is to dive in and embrace it; there is always a way to overcome your issue on a Ubuntu operating system.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Freelance Software Engineer + Director of a company at Peter Krall Consulting
Has a good support system for loading databases
Pros and Cons
- "It has a good support system for loading databases."
- "The support can be improved."
What is our primary use case?
I have used the solution for creating databases.
What is most valuable?
It has a good support system for loading databases.
What needs improvement?
The support can be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Ubuntu Linux for a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is a scalable solution.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward.
What other advice do I have?
I would rate the overall solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Program Manager at InfoCepts
An open-source operating system that provides good flexibility and security
Pros and Cons
- "Ubuntu Linux has good security features and a lot of software compatibility."
- "People with a Windows background may not find the solution's user interface user-friendly."
What is our primary use case?
We use Ubuntu Linux as an operating system for the installations we do on any of the servers. It's an open-source solution that is easy to customize.
What is most valuable?
Ubuntu Linux has good security features and a lot of software compatibility. Not many operating systems support software like MicroStrategy, but Ubuntu Linux is quite flexible and provides all the interfaces and compatibility for different software.
What needs improvement?
Ubuntu Linux is not easy to use because its interface is quite tricky. People with a Windows background may not find the solution's user interface user-friendly.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Ubuntu Linux for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Ubuntu Linux is a stable solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Ubuntu Linux is a scalable solution. Around 50 users are using the solution in our organization.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We were previously using Windows. We switched to Ubuntu Linux because it was flexible and secure.
How was the initial setup?
The solution's initial installation is difficult, and you would need a Linux administrator.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Ubuntu Linux is an open-source operating system.
What other advice do I have?
We are using the cloud version of Ubuntu Linux. Users can choose Ubuntu Linux if they have a vast environment and want a secure and scalable operating system.
Overall, I rate Ubuntu Linux a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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