huh, I've been using Ubuntu, Gentoo and Arch and I never have had any problems. You usually just have to ensure your wireless card has a linux driver. It was like $30 for me to just buy a wireless card that was supported. If you think about it.. Windows = $200, wireless card = $30, clearly the wireless card is cheaper.
I even went and installed it on my girlfriends laptop and it works fine.
I'm pleased you didn't have a problem. In my case, the laptop has been supplied by my institution, so I didn't have the luxury of doing the research on which card it has, and whether there is a Linux driver for it.
Your response is a common one. To me it sounds like you've just said: "Well, if you'd done something different then you wouldn't have problems." That may be true, but it's unhelpful for me.
Im guessing you have a Broadcom chip (it's very common and usually doesn't support linux), I think Ubuntu/the Linux community needs to focus on that. If the wireless hurdle can be overcome Linux would be much more common.
When I installed arch for my sister, the laptop had a broadcom chip. It kind of worked, but with very low signal strength. But the AUR had a package that fixed it, now it works perfectly...
I even went and installed it on my girlfriends laptop and it works fine.