Why does LinuxMCE require Kubuntu/Ubuntu/whatever?
The original system (Pluto) was built around a custom Debian kickstart CD. Since Pluto is expected to be a blackbox, the underlying system was never expected to change and development did not necessarily use techniques conducive to cross distribution usage.
Ubuntu is a Debian based distribution that's quite popular right now and has corporate backing (ie, possibility to buy support.)
This is a new project with few people working on it. Supporting multiple distributions would add undue support headaches when there's bigger issues to take care of, first. I wouldn't be surprised if, a couple of years out, Fedora at least was also supported.
So why did the project move away from Ubuntu to Kubuntu, I definitively don't understand that change.
Are there technical reasons?
Is it going to stay that way?