It's two different approaches to the same problem - how to stop people
who have no business altering the system itself from doing so. Each has
its pros and cons and there is no clear 'best' way of doing it.

The 'traditional' method, used by PCLOS and others, is to have one
account called 'root' with uber-powers to do the system administration
and then have user accounts which have either no, or only very limited,
rights to administer the system. If logged in as an ordinary user, the
system must be switched to using the root account using the 'su'
(substitute user) command or one of the graphical equivalents and the
root password.

The 'Ubuntu' method is to lock out the root account by not setting a
password on it (although it is possible to set one) and have one
ordinary user account endowed with the right to temporarily assume the
powers of root through the use of the 'sudo' (substitute user do)
command (or, again, one of the graphical equivalents) and their own
password.

You pays your money, you takes your choice.