Linux hasn't lost it's way. It's kernel is still configurable. You can turn off the stuff you don't want in there and recompile it.
Try using Gentoo, which makes this very easy, compared to redhat, Ubuntu etc. which have dependencies on the bloat in their packages. Ever tried to recompile a red hat kernel? It's not pretty.
Ubuntu is the problem, not linux.
The article (as is often the case) has a misleading title. It should be "Linux 3D Games Run Faster On PC-BSD than they do on the Ubuntu distribution of linux"
I'm sure that it would be a different story on a kernel without the bloat. People need to realize that often linux distros are far less than optimal. They are trying to be like windows and have everything and the kitchen sink in the kernel. Ubuntu is NOT linux. They are a company that simply packages linux in a distro and make it "easy" though for any specialized application, using Ubuntu is anything but easy. It's meant to be a general purpose desktop os that anyone can install.
You'd see much higher gaming performance in Gentoo, which like FreeBSD, is compiled from source for your processor with your options. FBSD uses ports, which is very similar to portage used in Gentoo. It downloads source, looks at your kernel and compiles the code with the right options for your system.
I strongly suggest that if you want to get the most performance out of linux, use a compiled-from-source distro like gentoo. It makes a HUGE difference. It takes a lot longer to set up your system (since you compile the entire thing from source) but the end result is worth it if performance is your #1 goal.