Ubuntu exists because Debian stable releases were inconveniently outdated, and Debian unstable was occasionally broken. Ubuntu also explicitly compromised "software freedom" in favor of utility, particularly by making non-free video and wifi drivers easy to install; in contradiction to Debian's pro-copyleft design. This situation has not changed.
I suspect OP is considering a change from Ubuntu because Ubuntu itself has diverged so far from its original identity as a reasonably stable Debian-unstable fork.
It was several years ago that I abandoned Ubuntu in favor of Archlinux for that very reason. These days, I'm almost exclusively using NixOS, but can't recommend it to impatient or non-technical users. NixOS is incredibly stable, very fresh/up-to-date, and incredibly chaotic to use. Someday, I expect, there will exist something of a "distribution" of NixOS that - much like Ubuntu did circa 2008 - caters to the average user. I hope that day comes soon.
slightly wrong. Ubuntu succeed in part because of what you mention, plus lots of marketing money. debian have caught up now. and most people seriously wanting up to date is over at gentoo or arch.
But back to the "ubuntu exists" premise you started, it is because a rich guy wanted to take over debian and sell an enterprise solution based on it.
remember at the time enterprise was all the rave. google was pushing their enterprise suite, and there was ton of startups (zoho, etc) it was a crowded space then and red hat, suze were completely fumbling with their linuxes.
Marketing money? For about the first decade I think the only marketing was shipping CDs for free to anyone who wanted them. A billboard or two might have been rented over the decades in highly targeted circumstances. There is approximately zero marketing.
they paid for "CD vending machines" at several locations where you could get free cds... that is more expensive than a billboard and practically buys you a spot on specialized magazines. They were going those marketing campaigns all over the place.
Oh yes. Free CDs worldwide was incredibly cheap as a form of marketing, especially when you have the ability to source the cheapest bulk pressing and shipping deals world wide. As are vending machines, compared with the ludicrous prices charged for a billboard in a relevant position. I can't even recall if the vending machines were Canonical or local Ubuntu user groups doing it for shits and giggles/course credit. A tiny drop of money compared to competitors marketing budgets.
I suspect OP is considering a change from Ubuntu because Ubuntu itself has diverged so far from its original identity as a reasonably stable Debian-unstable fork.
It was several years ago that I abandoned Ubuntu in favor of Archlinux for that very reason. These days, I'm almost exclusively using NixOS, but can't recommend it to impatient or non-technical users. NixOS is incredibly stable, very fresh/up-to-date, and incredibly chaotic to use. Someday, I expect, there will exist something of a "distribution" of NixOS that - much like Ubuntu did circa 2008 - caters to the average user. I hope that day comes soon.