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How Ubuntu Desktop’s scores are calculated

The full audit trail, recomputed from the verdict data at build time through the same code that produced the leaderboard: verdict × quality × story weight per cell, cells sum to dimension scores, dimensions blend into the PA Score. Every number on the product page is reproducible from this page alone; for why the formula looks like this, see the methodology.

verdict factors: full ×1.0 · partial ×0.6 · disputed ×0.3 · none ×0.0 · n/a excluded from both sides · cell points = weight × quality × factor · cell max = weight × 10

PA Score5/100

Agent-ready 0.0 × 0.30 = 0.00

API quality n/a — excluded, its ×0.20 weight renormalized away

Openness 21.0 × 0.20 = 4.20

Built-in AI 0.0 × 0.15 = 0.00

Automation 0.0 × 0.15 = 0.00

(0.00 + 4.20 + 0.00 + 0.00) ÷ (0.30 + 0.20 + 0.15 + 0.15) = 4.20 ÷ 0.80 = 5.3 — weights renormalized over the scored components

Scores are stored to 1 decimal; the product page’s pills round to whole numbers for display. Each dimension below shows the stories, verdicts, and cited evidence behind its number.

Agent-ready0.0/100×0.30 of the PA blend

Outside-in: can YOUR agent reach and drive this product — API, MCP, CLI, headless runs, agent docs.

Point an agent at llms.txt or agent-oriented docsweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/llms.txt“PROBE llms.txt: HTTP 404 at https://help.ubuntu.com/llms.txt”
  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/.md“PROBE docs-md: HTTP 404 at https://help.ubuntu.com/.md”
  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/openapi.json“PROBE openapi: all candidate paths 404 (https://help.ubuntu.com/openapi.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/swagger.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/api/openapi.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/.well-known/openapi.json)”

Run the product headlessly / in CI for automationweight 2

n/a — not applicable to this product: excluded from numerator and denominator

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Plug MCP servers into this product so it can use their toolsweight 3

n/a — not applicable to this product: excluded from numerator and denominator

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Connect an agent via an official MCP serverweight 3

3 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 30 max

  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/llms.txt“PROBE llms.txt: HTTP 404 at https://help.ubuntu.com/llms.txt”
  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/.md“PROBE docs-md: HTTP 404 at https://help.ubuntu.com/.md”
  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/openapi.json“PROBE openapi: all candidate paths 404 (https://help.ubuntu.com/openapi.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/swagger.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/api/openapi.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/.well-known/openapi.json)”

Use an official CLIweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://ubuntu.com/desktop“Ubuntu is a primary platform for all major IDEs, game development tools, and AI/ML software.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://ubuntu.com/desktop“The power of a full Ubuntu terminal environment on Windows with Windows Subsystem for Linux. Streamline web application development, run cutting-edge AI/ML tooling, develop cross-platform applications”
  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/llms.txt“PROBE llms.txt: HTTP 404 at https://help.ubuntu.com/llms.txt”
  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/.md“PROBE docs-md: HTTP 404 at https://help.ubuntu.com/.md”
  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/openapi.json“PROBE openapi: all candidate paths 404 (https://help.ubuntu.com/openapi.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/swagger.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/api/openapi.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/.well-known/openapi.json)”

Drive the product through a documented public APIweight 3

3 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 30 max

  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/llms.txt“PROBE llms.txt: HTTP 404 at https://help.ubuntu.com/llms.txt”
  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/.md“PROBE docs-md: HTTP 404 at https://help.ubuntu.com/.md”
  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/openapi.json“PROBE openapi: all candidate paths 404 (https://help.ubuntu.com/openapi.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/swagger.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/api/openapi.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/.well-known/openapi.json)”

Issue scoped/least-privilege API credentials for an agentweight 2

n/a — not applicable to this product: excluded from numerator and denominator

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Build against official SDKsweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/llms.txt“PROBE llms.txt: HTTP 404 at https://help.ubuntu.com/llms.txt”
  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/.md“PROBE docs-md: HTTP 404 at https://help.ubuntu.com/.md”
  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/openapi.json“PROBE openapi: all candidate paths 404 (https://help.ubuntu.com/openapi.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/swagger.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/api/openapi.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/.well-known/openapi.json)”

Subscribe to events via webhooksweight 2

n/a — not applicable to this product: excluded from numerator and denominator

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Agent-ready = 0.0 ÷ 120 × 100 = 0.0

API qualityn/a×0.20 of the PA blend

The programmable surface once an agent is there — machine-readable spec, interactive docs, sandbox, versioning discipline.

Explore an interactive API reference with runnable examplesweight 2

n/a — not applicable to this product: excluded from numerator and denominator

  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/openapi.json“PROBE openapi: all candidate paths 404 (https://help.ubuntu.com/openapi.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/swagger.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/api/openapi.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/.well-known/openapi.json)”

Download a machine-readable API spec (OpenAPI or equivalent)weight 2

n/a — not applicable to this product: excluded from numerator and denominator

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Test against a sandbox environment without touching production dataweight 1

n/a — not applicable to this product: excluded from numerator and denominator

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Rely on versioned APIs with a documented deprecation policyweight 2

n/a — not applicable to this product: excluded from numerator and denominator

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

every cell n/a — unscored (not zero), excluded from the blend

Openness21.0/100×0.20 of the PA blend

Can you leave, inspect, or self-host — data export, open source, portability.

Do everything through the API that I can do in the UIweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/llms.txt“PROBE llms.txt: HTTP 404 at https://help.ubuntu.com/llms.txt”
  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/.md“PROBE docs-md: HTTP 404 at https://help.ubuntu.com/.md”
  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/openapi.json“PROBE openapi: all candidate paths 404 (https://help.ubuntu.com/openapi.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/swagger.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/api/openapi.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/.well-known/openapi.json)”

Export all of my data in open formats and leaveweight 3

3 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 30 max

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Read the product's source under an open licenseweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Self-host the core productweight 3

3 (weight) × 7 (quality) × 1.0 (full) = 21.0 of 30 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://ubuntu.com/desktop“Download Ubuntu Desktop and replace your current operating system. It's easy to install in place of Windows, or run Ubuntu alongside it.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://ubuntu.com/desktop“Get up to 15 years of security coverage and benefit from enterprise-grade security, management tooling, and extended support for developers and organisations. Ubuntu Pro Desktop is free for personal use”
  • [claimed-docs] https://ubuntu.com/desktop“Experience Ubuntu with different choices of default desktop environment, applications and settings, backed by the full Ubuntu archive for packages and updates.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://ubuntu.com/desktop“It's easy to install in place of Windows, or run Ubuntu alongside it.”
  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/llms.txt“PROBE llms.txt: HTTP 404 at https://help.ubuntu.com/llms.txt”
  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/openapi.json“PROBE openapi: all candidate paths 404 (https://help.ubuntu.com/openapi.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/swagger.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/api/openapi.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/.well-known/openapi.json)”

Openness = 21.0 ÷ 100 × 100 = 21.0

Built-in AI0.0/100×0.15 of the PA blend

Inside-out: how agentic the product itself is for its users — built-in assistants, autonomous features.

Get AI-generated insights and suggestions from my data inside the productweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://ubuntu.com/desktop“Ubuntu is a primary platform for all major IDEs, game development tools, and AI/ML software.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://ubuntu.com/desktop“Each release of Ubuntu delivers the latest applications, libraries, and toolchains. Ubuntu is a primary platform for all major IDEs, game development tools, and AI/ML software.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://ubuntu.com/desktop“The power of a full Ubuntu terminal environment on Windows with Windows Subsystem for Linux. Streamline web application development, run cutting-edge AI/ML tooling, develop cross-platform applications, and manage IT infrastructure - all without leaving Windows.”

Set up automations that run autonomously in the backgroundweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://documentation.ubuntu.com/desktop/“Start an application at login”

Delegate tasks to a built-in AI assistant inside the productweight 3

3 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 30 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://ubuntu.com/desktop“Ubuntu is a primary platform for all major IDEs, game development tools, and AI/ML software.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://ubuntu.com/desktop“Each release of Ubuntu delivers the latest applications, libraries, and toolchains. Ubuntu is a primary platform for all major IDEs, game development tools, and AI/ML software.”
  • [claimed-docs] https://ubuntu.com/desktop“The power of a full Ubuntu terminal environment on Windows with Windows Subsystem for Linux. Streamline web application development, run cutting-edge AI/ML tooling, develop cross-platform applications”

Operate the product with natural-language commandsweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

  • [community] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31957054“The killer feature of Unity is the HUD allowing you to simply type to find menu items. Saves so much time going through options.”
  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/llms.txt“PROBE llms.txt: HTTP 404 at https://help.ubuntu.com/llms.txt”
  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/.md“PROBE docs-md: HTTP 404 at https://help.ubuntu.com/.md”
  • [probe] https://help.ubuntu.com/openapi.json“PROBE openapi: all candidate paths 404 (https://help.ubuntu.com/openapi.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/swagger.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/api/openapi.json, https://help.ubuntu.com/.well-known/openapi.json)”

Built-in AI = 0.0 ÷ 90 × 100 = 0.0

Automation0.0/100×0.15 of the PA blend

Depth of automation primitives — rules, scheduling, bulk operations, webhooks.

Perform bulk operations across many items at onceweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Define rules that trigger actions automatically on eventsweight 3

3 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 30 max

  • [claimed-docs] https://documentation.ubuntu.com/desktop/“Start an application at login”

Schedule recurring jobs or workflowsweight 2

2 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 20 max

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Version, review, and roll back my automationsweight 1

1 (weight) × 0 (quality) × 0.0 (none) = 0.0 of 10 max

no evidence cited — the verdict rests on absence of evidence, re-checked on refresh

Automation = 0.0 ÷ 80 × 100 = 0.0