I agree, however there are so many distros that it is not just worth the time writing guides for all of the different varitions of distributions.
Ubuntu 16.04 happens to be really common (not sure if the most used version of ubuntu), so of course it provides the most support.
However problem solving is kind of a important part of the GNU/Linux experience

Well the easiest way to "solve" the problem is to have a Ubuntu 16.04 VM or whatever is the standard for the current year.
So that's where I do all my linux stuff now, particularly when it comes to compiling and crypto.