What prevents Linux from picking ONE touchpad to optimize for? After all, both Lenovo and Dell are now shipping certain laptop models with official Linux support.
Casting a wide net is necessary if you don't want just a niche audience.
A "jack of all trades, master of none" approach would only condemn everyone to mediocrity.
Hardware manufacturers care a lot about the Linux market. But that Linux is Android, not desktop machines. Yes, the linux desktop segment is a tiny fragment of the market, but that market itself is shrinking and has been for almost a decade.
I'd argue that mediocre on most hardware and excellent on a few particular models is better than mediocre everywhere.
For example: https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=Linux-5....
The point was, that the other OSes picked specific hardware and they provide great experience only on that hand-picked hardware and nothing else. I specifically noted, that Apple touchpads do not work under Bootcamp as nicely as the Precision ones do, as an example.
That's the difference.