That is the whole distro, and not a hundred individual programs talking out of turn. If you don't want Ubuntu's update notifications, you can turn that off in one place.

I have a machine running Ubuntu 11.04 or 11.10, I forget which. It keeps on telling me a new update is available. I'll upgrade eventually, but I don't want to be nagged about it, so when I see the box pop up telling me I should upgrade, I hit "Don't Upgrade." Next time it boots, the box is back.