It's difficult to get good support on Linux as well. Most of it is volunteers and that effort is spread over many different projects. Consistent long term support for Linux is only available for commercial operations. For personal computing apple has the best long term support for hardware.
The benefit of Linux is the flexibility and the broad range of options that can be applied to support older hardware. But this requires the users to apply them in a way that can be inaccessible for some people or inconvenient for power users/small businesses.
Technically Linux can provide long term support. Practically, it can't do it in a useful way. Linux still struggles to support new hardware out the box - this is improving.
Linux has achieved a great many things. Whilst being free and open. But nobody talks about supporting ten year old Linux tablets or even using them. That's because they are in landfills or museums. Your iPad is still useful.