I think people noticed ubuntu's support for anything 32 bit has been "less than stellar" for a while. If you need to run a 32bit app, you just don't do it on ubuntu (though I'm still supporting some 32bit EDA tools running on ubuntu 7 in VirtualBox. It is not an ideal solution and isn't entirely Canonical fault.)
Everbody noticed even omgubuntu... hence the article after the news broke days ago.