Linux

The short rant:

1. You don't need to ask which distro, ask which mint version
2. The answer to #1 is MATE or xfce.

The longer rant:

I've been using xubuntu a bit, for guest OS in desktop VM, but I don't really know if I like it enough to recommend it. It's less rough than Arch, but so is 24 grit sandpaper.

Like others have said, there are many contenders for your use case, but mint stands out. I'm probably gonna go with mint once windows 10 stops getting updates. Mint or parrot. But TBH I don't want to daily drive parrot either.

Which version of mint then? That's really the question to ask. And if you ask me then I don't care for all the bells and whistles, I don't need animations or semi transparent windows. And when Ubuntu went with unity back in the day I walked. So I guess I want my GUI to stay the same. So I'd go with MATE or xfce.

Sadly I can't recommand pop-os. In 2 years, the updates broke twice on me.

The resolutions where simple enough if you can use the command line to run sudo apt update, sudo apt upgrade. But the GUI shop updater just crashed on me without the apt error message visible.

It is a nice distro overall with which you can even try tiled windows without commiting to it.

-> pop-os is nice but it may break from times to times. So if (like me or most dev) you are ok with the CLI and just a bit of fixes from times to times then go for it. But if you are affraid of the CLI or never want to fix anything, then some other distro may be a better choice.

Bazzite is the new Ubuntu without snaps etc, give it a try

I've heard good things about Fedora. It seems to be mostly set-it-and-forget-it while still being flexible enough for power users.

My go to back in The Day was just Ubuntu because I was lazy.

So we have a bias towards Debian-based distros.

it’s not been playing nice with my Zen 4 desktop when it comes to ACPI power states (no sleep, doesn’t reliably turn the power off when i ask it to turn off, etc).

However, a newer kernel is definitely preferred.

is also something based on a normal distro that most people write guides for because I am a smoothbrain.

And finally, healthy access to documentation.

Based on the above, I would not pick:

• Debian Stable or any distro based on it. They ship with the 6.1 kernel, which launched only a couple months (January 2023) after the launch of Zen 4 (September 2022). I'm aware that access to newer kernels is possible. However, at that point, why even bother with Debian Stable to begin with?
• While both of Debian's Testing and Sid/Unstable branches have access to newer kernels from the get-go, distros that ship the latest kernel by default (e.g. Arch, Fedora, openSUSE Tumbleweed and their derivatives) are simply better for offering an end-user product.
• Arch, Fedora, openSUSE Tumbleweed and their derivatives are primarily dismissed for not being based on Debian. Though, the fact that they're more towards the rolling release side of things does play a minor role as well. By their very nature, they will change. Hence it's less ideal for "set-and-forget" setups.
• Pop_OS!' team seems to be primarily focused on delivering their upcoming COSMIC DE. For this reason, the distro has been in relative limbo. Therefore, I can't recommend it.
• TUXEDO OS is dismissed for being relatively unpopular. Lots of other Debian(/Ubuntu) derivatives are dismissed for various reasons.

Let's get to the actual recommendation, Linux Mint seems to be tailor-made for your use case:

• Based on Ubuntu, but without Snaps. While you can choose to use Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) instead, that one doesn't come with the latest kernel. So the recommendation is for (standard/vanilla) Linux Mint.
• Their forums are full with up-to-date and (relatively) well-written guides; while the excellent ArchWiki is arguably better, Linux Mint isn't a slouch either. Furthermore, as Linux Mint is very popular, you can simply expect to find solutions to most things that might come up.

Tbh you’re probably right if you want something straight forward just stay with Debian. If your feeling adventurous and don’t do any gaming try FreeBSD

Any major distro should do it imo. Personally I run Fedora because I tried it out years ago and I'm past the distro hopping phase. It just works™ (most of the time, as every distro).

PopOS is getting traction, and I think it's deserved. I only use it on my gaming rig and never had major problems. Based on Ubuntu if I recall so the majority of Ubuntu tutos should be compatible.

I tried ZorinOS as well. It's paid (10 bucks per major version if I recall), but it's surprisingly stable and well fleshed out. It aims to mimic Windows or MacOS design out of the box, for people that migrate to Linux. They have a free lite version. Based on Ubuntu as well. The only reason it's not my main OS is because Fedora is already installed on my main rig and I'm lazy.

As suggested, Debian is still its old self, and it's a good thing. The stability thing although means that you won't get the latest bells and whistles. On the other end of the spectrum there's Arch but it's far less "set and forget" than the other distros. At least it's longer to set, harder to forget. I would rather go with Manjaro, with which I had a really good experience years ago, never any major struggle. But It still needs a bit of minimal maintaining.

Years ago, when Ubuntu started their Unity and Amazon partnering bullshit, I switched to Linux Mint. I don't know how it is today, but at the time it was the go-to replacement for Ubuntu: all the advantages without any of the inconvenient.

Honestly, just pick one of the major ones, try it in a live environment to be sure the defaults suit you, and you should be good to go for years.

The whole separation between APT and snap packages doesn't work well together and is really the big problem I have, as a lot of standard deb packages just refuse to install properly now.

since you are mention deb packages, I would consider these

• Linux Mint
• PopOS
• Rhino Linux (somekind of rolling release distro based on ubuntu)
• LMDE

Immutable fedora works well for me.

I use this specifically:

https://getaurora.dev/

Should I just head to using basic plain jane Debian or something?

Every time I try a new distro I end up back on Debian. It just works.

I'm in a similar situation. I've used Kubuntu (Ubuntu + KDE) for more than a decade now, and it has mostly worked beautifully. Over the years, memorable problems were a few issues with GPU drivers, GRUB shenanigans and the occasional amateurish KDE UX fuckup. But in general I found the whole experience much better than what I saw on Windows during the time.

However, for a while now Ubuntu is breaking my #1 rule of software products: Do not annoy your users. Every update they are trying to push (and fix) their useless Snap architecture a bit more, and every updates makes things effectively worse. Examples: displaying annoying popups to tell you that Snap app x needs to be updated and that the app has to be closed for that, but not updating it when closing the app, trying to fix that in the latest version by auto installing the latest snap with a popup and progress bar when closing the app (making me wait to turn off my computer till it's finished - I just finished my work and want to go home please), numerous interoperability issues because snap apps run in some kind of sandbox and don't play nice with regular (Debian and Linux) mechanisms, and so on. It's an absolute shitshow, and I think they have now annoyed me, personally, long enough. I need to find something better.

Ah. I just needed that off my chest. Maybe I should give Mint a try

If you're used to Debian based distros, Linux Mint. I personally use OpenSuse if you want to check something different.

Linux Mint and PopOS are usually listed as friendly distros and are derivatives of Ubuntu without Ubuntu controversies like Snap. Mint even has an alternative direct Debian base skipping some Ubuntu packages, so might be ironically closer to old Ubuntu in that flavor.

If you're open to going non-debian, Manjaro is often sold as the more user friendly Arch. (Edit - a recent Manjaro controversy has people recommending EndeavorOS instead for an Arch wrapper. I've not tried that one myself).

Debian or Arch aren't bad to use directly either and are far more newbie friendly than they were a decade ago even if not as out of the box opinionated as their derivatives.

I've been using Fedora Core since 2004 and it seems like it's mostly worry free for me, but then again I remember the olden days when I needed to spend significantly more time on getting stuff to work. I think it helps to use mainstream hardware as well. I've been running thinkpads for years now and I think that probably helps with compatibility. I also tend to run refurbished older hardware because it's cheaper and I don't need bleeding edge performance.

Considering your previous experience with Ubuntu, I would recommend Debian. Just make sure to get the right ISO for what you want.

Since you're complaining about Ubuntu not working with ACPI power states, my next recommendation would be Endeavour to be more up to date and get fixes and stuff sooner. It's pre-configured Arch.

I use EndeavourOS and really enjoy it. It’s effectively Arch but without the fuss. You get a GUI with just a few steps to set it up and you’re good to go. I tend to upgrade once a week, while checking the forums to see nothing too bad broke. That’s basically the maintenance I have.

When I do a new install on a new device, I just clone a repo I keep with the most important config files. Then I copy them to where they belong. There’s really not much more to it.

I would say OpenSUSE Leap. I tried many distros on my sister's PC (Mint, PopOS, Manjaro) and all of them got borked at one point by normal updates. The last one I installed was Leap and she still uses it without any problems.

I recommend Arch and KDE. The community to docs are really good. It's a rolling release distro, so always up to date.

https://youtu.be/FxeriGuJKTM

Should I just head to using basic plain jane Debian or something?

👌

All the good stuff from Ubuntu has mostly been upstreamed into Debian. And Debian's rekease cycle is much faster these days than it was back then. So, just run Debian.

Zorin for sure. Set up like a couple months ago, fiddled with some settings since I'm new to Linux for a couple days and it's been smooth sailing ever since.

Fedora, Mint, or Pop. Hell, give BSD a try!

At this point, I am an LMDE shill because it works so well for my non-tech wife. She has only had to use the terminal 3 times since I installed it for her in the summer and most of what she needs for day-to-day desktop computing came pre-installed.

It "just works," even for multi-monitor setups, which I thought it would have trouble with.

I run PopOS on two notebooks (thinkpad, MacBook air) for about a year now and so far everything worked. Printer needed some fiddeling

I've never really used Linux as a daily driver. Back in the same Ubuntu period as you, intrialled it but got sick of software compatibility problems. So much is cloud web based these days, that it's less of an issue.

What surprised me as a distro hopped looking for my home laptop flavourz was how different it was to install different software, such as docker. Some distros it was a hassle to run well. Some it needed workarounds, whichh surprised me.

So, I'd look at what you plan to run, then decide between opensuse, pop, mint or fedora and how easy they support what you want to do. I dipped back into Ubuntu but they have started to make some m$ style choices where you have to take back control as they try to make your PC act like they want not how you want.

All can be made to support whatever you want but not all do our of the box.