I wasn't doing that though. I was literally _only_ stating that the GP's comment, "Canonical is doing great job of putting, fairly reliable system on massive number of devices, something that other distributions can just dream about.", is factually incorrect since "other distributions" can and do support not only many of the same platforms that Ubuntu supports but also a whole plethora of platforms that Ubuntu does not. I didn't disagree with the GP's other compliments towards Ubuntu and I even stated that I wasn't here to criticise Ubuntu. I even went on to say that multi-platform support in Linux isn't a new thing to reinforce the point that I'm grouping Ubuntu and Debian and all other Linux distros together with regards to their ability to run on an interesting array of hardware. I just disagree that Ubuntu is the only Linux distro that runs on multiple platforms - because, simply, it's not the only distro that does that.
However what _is_ strange about my post is how a great many people have then taken my comments as a personal attack against Ubuntu or said "those platforms don't matter" just because they personally don't use them. It's pretty nuts because the fact that I'm aware of unsupported platforms means that I've ran into situations where Ubuntu didn't run and thus means those platforms do matter to some people - like myself. The fact we are having this discussion is proof that your argument of irrelevance is itself irrelevant.
I'll probably get downvoted for saying this but reading the rest of this thread and the replies in my own branch it sounding a bit like a pro-Ubuntu echo chamber where like minded enthusiasts are all reconfirming their pre-existing biases and branding opposing experiences as liars (just as I had been by another HNer). This is a shame because there is a lot to praise Ubuntu for without needing to invent additional achievements. What's worse is downvoting members for the serious crime of actually managing to run non-Ubuntu distro's on new hardware when other enthusiasts could not. It's all a little absurd and it ruins the discussion for everyone as people like myself wont bother contributing in another Ubuntu-themed thread on HN again.
We're talking about a system primarily targeted toward x86 machines (esp desktops or laptops) common for consumers. So, everyone assumes you mean x86 machines with various configurations of hardware. That was my assumption, too. You assessing its hardware support by focusing on architectures virtually no Ubuntu or Linux user is using or wants to use is strange. I'll go further to say it's immaterial to an assessment of Ubuntu's hardware support given its target market. There's other distro's that focus on MIPS, SPARC, and "exotic" hardware.