Coming from a long history of Debian and black/fluxbox, I've always appreciated Ubuntu for their package selection and default hardware setup. They've hooked up a lot of stuff I hate managing by hand (like printing and video drivers) automatically. I still run openbox on it, though, which happily insulates me from Shuttleworth's reinvention of the stock UI.

Watching the debate over new window control placement and removing the systray reminds me it's nice to be a little off the beaten path. :)