There is no hard sell. I said that people should use what works best for
them even PS in Windows. I was just giving options.

My main point is that Linux has no shortage of options and all are free.
People can still use what they want. I am not one who advocates only one
way. If I hard sell anything it is that users own the machines and must have
freedom to choose. I only get on my when I feel that freedom and choice are
being threatened.

Linux does not show empty read only drives such as DVDs. It mounts drives on
demand. If you put an empty DVD in the drive then it will mount. An empty or
unreadable disk will not mount and be assigned a drive designation. Windows
will because it is set up to take ownership of any drive. Again, it is just
a different philosophy which makes Linux and Windows different.
You should troubleshoot your slow Ubuntu. It generally does not run slowly.

Can you tell us more about your unreadable disks? How were they recorded and
from what source and onto which media, including density, etc.? I am sure
that someone here may have an insight once they know some specifics. I may
be asking you to repeat yourself. If so, please forgive me because I am on
my Android phone and can't look back easily. Thanks.