Ubuntu的安装介质（ISO）一代最近打破了源ISO的组装。这些ISO包含Ubuntu Linux的所有源代码包，其最初的动机是帮助GPL许可证合规性并确保代码易于访问。但是在实践中的用处是有限的，现在Ubuntu开发人员正在考虑停止源ISO。
源代码ISO在理论上是很好的，可以帮助确保正在使用的GPL许可的代码确实是可用的，但实际上并没有被广泛使用……你上一次下载6张DVD的Ubuntu源码是什么时候？单独的Ubuntu/Debian源包也仍然以非ISO形式提供，供那些想要单独使用不同资产的人使用。Ubuntu源代码ISO也没有与Ubuntu ISO二进制版本的其余版本对应，所以它们的可用性较低。它还提到，各种Ubuntu口味/混合也没有推出他们的源代码ISO。此外，这只是发布时的源代码状态，如果想要所有当前的带有安全更新的Ubuntu源包，则需要手动从镜像获取源包，等等。
所以邮件列表讨论 was started today around discontinuing the Ubuntu source ISOs. The Ubuntu sources will remain available and this isn't anything about closing off that, but rather whether the merits and ongoing maintenance burden is worth it for assembling source ISOs. It was also raised that Snap packages also aren't currently included as part of Ubuntu source ISO builds anyways so these source ISOs are incomplete and have been so for years. We'll see if they pull the trigger for the current Ubuntu 24.04 LTS cycle on doing away with these rather unnecessary source ISOs.
