Didn't Ubuntu try this and fail miserably?

Im actually pretty bummed to hear this. In my area, Frys was the only big computer store within 200 miles or so that sold motherboards, cases, RAM, and other parts at an actual decent price. I have A LOT of memories from the 2000's of going there and buying stuff for builds. With how Amazon and other online retail is going, I doubt that any similar store will take its place.

I would fully support automation completely taking over fast food. Fast food in my area has largely gone from first jobs for high schoolers to jobs that are entirely occupied by adult illegal aliens.

This is the absolute truth. I can't name the number of things that used to be better that some company changed and now it is frustrating to use. Websites are a huge one. My bank's website was completely useable and fast in its ugly, old form until they decided to add stupid HTML5 bullshit to it and adding stupid side popouts when clicking on an account, making it impossible to scroll through more than 7 or 8 transactions. Same with the grocery website I use to order online for pickup. I didn't ask for a god damn drop-down search that takes up a third of the page. I don't fear change. I really don't. But god damn if I don't believe that within every major corporation there is an entire department of shit heads dreaming up stupid ideas to implement to try to justify their existence.

with the 25 different 2FA codes I have on my phone, I won't upgrade for at least another 4 years because it's such a giant pain in the ass to do so. Pro-tip, get a smart plug, and set up a tasker profile to kill your charger when your phone hits 99% and turns back on when it drops below 90%, that way you won't be maxing out your phone all night and your battery will live 3 times longer.