> I don't think you can blame linux
No, of course you can't but that's also the problem. It's always someone else's fault.
If you try to upgrade Ubuntu you're told to RTFM. If you try to upgrade Raspbian, you're told you should have just installed a new image.
Linux distros routinely offer up options and features that do not work and there's no responsibility to be had.
With Windows, it's Microsoft's fault and they fix it (eventually).
I don't think you can blame linux, it's just a specific distro trying to do a task which is too hard and fail.
Not sure if it's still the case with ubuntu, I just run Arch which is a rolling release distro; I decide when to upgrade and what it implies + their info on breaking updates is always punctual.