So how do you install Chromium without their snap? Is installing non-snap Chromium as easy as installing non-snap packages in their repo? If not, I'd rather use Linux Mint.

The bad decision here is not "Ubuntu's snap obsession" as OP claims, but the decision by the Chromium team to piggyback on a half-baked packaging mechanism, instead of simply distributing .deb packages (like the official Chrome).

Thankfully there are plenty of fixes available. Here's one of them [1]:

  sudo add-apt-repository ppa:saiarcot895/chromium-beta
  sudo apt update
  sudo apt install chromium-browser

[1] https://launchpad.net/~saiarcot895/+archive/ubuntu/chromium-...

> Thankfully there are plenty of fixes available. Here's one of them

Sounds wonderful, along with the accrued online karma points. As great as one person is, they will never be the upstream source.

Here's my ppa also, I have a proven track record of updating browsers with security hotfixes hours before anyone else, but on the downside I really don't secure my system at all and leave my laptop unattended in Starbucks, please subscribe:

    sudo add-apt-repository ppa:TOTALLYNOTMALWARE/chromium-beta
    sudo apt update
    sudo apt install chromium-browser

Of course you should pick the poison that matches your risk level. I agree that installing random ppas brings all sorts of risks, just like any other 3P code you install - pip/gem/npm-installed libraries, chrome extensions, etc. All these are real attack vectors.

My original point was that replacing your OS because you can't install Chromium seems ludicrous to me, when you can easily find alternatives.

Here's a few better options:

1) Use official packages from debian: https://askubuntu.com/a/1206153/161744

2) Use Pop!OS repositories (assuming you trust System76 folks):

  sudo add-apt-repository ppa:system76/pop

3) Compile Chromium from source https://www.chromium.org/developers/how-tos/get-the-code

A PPA is not a replacement, especially for something like a browser that almost everyone needs to have installed.

Since LM is based on Ubuntu, if you can install Chromium there using a deb, the same package/repo should work on Ubuntu.

The only thing I want (not need) that is unavoidably distributed via snap is Canonical's Livepatch. I don't want it enough to keep snapd around but it irritates me that I can't have a useful security feature.