Every distro decides what features to introduce and when. Distros and DEs are making the choice when to implement new standards like Wayland and Pipewire, GNOME shifts its features over time and in the latest release is redesigning how its window management workflow is going to work. When you choose a distro and DE, you’re choosing to trust them with these decisions. That doesn’t mean users are “forced.” Users can and will vote with their feet.

Ubuntu introduced snaps in 16.04, and has been gradually increasing their presence since then. Users have had 7 years to decide they don’t like them and change distros.