Ubuntu More Honest Than Microsoft Windows
Ubuntu is bloatware, but at least it openly admits it, unlike Microsoft when it talks about Windows and its real-world (practical) requirements. Like any other distro, Ubuntu can be customised and changed profoundly. For instance, one can install a new desktop environment, then "enter" it to lower the memory footprint, reduce the number of background processes, and so on.
There are many bad things to be said about Ubuntu, including its steward, Microsoft Canonical, and its war on permissive licensing (under the false flags of "security" or "Rust is awesome" because Microsoft GitHub controls it).
Ubuntu is not a great distro and it's not even good. Thankfully, there is no "universal distro", just like there's no "universal PC" with 4 CPU cores and 6+ GB of RAM.
If you don't like the direction Ubuntu has taken, then try something else. Bad distros will face negative consequences, such as exodus of their hard-earned userbase (Mark Shuttleworth shelled out money for ShipIt). Ubuntu is nowadays managed by a youngster with very little practical experience except spying in the British Army; why did Microsoft Canonical put him in charge? Around 2009 it put a man from Microsoft (Spencer) in charge of Ubuntu and it didn't take long for Ubuntu to lose its dominance, not only its credibility or goodwill ("humanity for others").
Microsoft Canonical has a goal. That goal most likely overlaps or fits not you and me (but Microsoft/GAFAM/US). █
2023: MS (Mark Shuttleworth) as a Microsoft Salesperson
Image source: Gas mask is a mask used to protect the user from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases