It is no hack. This are quite basic repository operations. You can always add or remove repositories. And mirror URLs don’t change. And if, simply replace it.
These two packages provide services which add a basic set of repos. These services are ment for unexperienced users, so that they can not easily bork a repo setup (you can not alter the repo URL, delete them or bork them easily). If you want to add some custom repos or have some experience, you need to remove these packages to get rid of the services. See also here.
You still will be able to update your system when you have added a proper set of repos.