I think the point of the original comment is "take off". A non proprietary ChromeOS (that is browser first, simple to use for non techy people, easy to manage) sounds like a neat idea to me, but the names you mentioned achieved nowhere near the reputation/popularity of Ubuntu.

Maybe it is more about the business model. ChromeOS runs efficiently on low-cost hardware for a small license fee (?), and get almost guaranteed updates. In exchange, customers sell their souls (actually, data) to Google. Won't happrn with Linux. But undeniably it sells and works well enough for ChromeOS.