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Ubuntu stopped being the lightweight Linux distro, and Linux Mint filled the gap it left behind
(www.xda-developers.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
I think you're both interpreting the original quote in different ways. It was the obvious choice only because it was popular, but it wasn't popular because it was the best at reviving old hardware. There were many better options for squeezing performance out of old systems, and they would have been more "obvious choices" than Ubuntu for anyone with any knowledge of the Linux ecosystem.