I don't think anyone is pushing the idea that tablets can fulfill every need of every computer user. I'm not sure what you are responding to.
You're exactly right, no one is pushing that idea. However, the fact that this is posted on Slashdot (where a disproportionate number of users are software developers, engineers, and other professions that require high powered computing) kinda implies that some of us can replace our desktops with a tablet. We know we can't and never will (unless the conditions laid out by the GP are satisfied), so this is just another one of those articles that are completely irrelevant to this demographic. What's next, links to Cosmopolitan articles?
On the other hand, we don't seem to be suffering from the lack of dinosaurs.
I think that's why we're here to begin with, or at least why we're not all a bunch of tiny shrews.
Ubuntu's gain in popularity probably had a lot more to do with the fact that it bundled proprietary software, non-free drivers, etc. by default, since it was basically Debian with different themes in the beginning.
FTFY
I think Mint and Ubuntu are gaining popularity in very much the same way. JMHO. And yes, a large and healthy ecosystem is a very good thing!
"Ninety percent of baseball is half mental." -- Yogi Berra