astrsk

This, op.

You clearly know enough about what you want already. A minimal install of Debian with just a handful of apt commands will get you exactly what you want in just a handful of minutes.

The one thing I’ve learned over the years is that the more experience you have with Linux, the less you rely on preconfigured distributions. Find a stable minimal install and build up your own set of base packages, DE, configs, etc.

Only you know your habits and needs and experience is how you narrow down the field.

For me personally, I have found my groove in a minimal Debian install with a first run setup script or two that is repeatable and automatable so I can start with a known quantity for any applicable need I have.

Boosting so I can revisit this comment in a couple years.

Combine that with the 20-30 seconds my system takes to do bios memory training on the DDR5 ram and we’re practically back to the “go make some coffee while the system boots up” days 🤦

I use Edge on Linux as my user agent in Firefox on Windows just so I can give some engineers a laugh.

Exactly why I still have and maintain my Apple IIe and old consoles. Both as nostalgia bait for myself but also as a way for my future kids to understand where we started. I don’t expect them to care, but I know I can trust toddlers with the games and programs and technology from the 80s and 90s without having to deal with parental controls or internet privacy concerns. This old tech can be valuable in both education and safe, fun entertainment until kids can learn to think critically about what they’re doing.

I would love to have a poster of this in that old Apple Basic reference poster style

To add to this, you can press tab twice to get a list of available autocomplete options, which take into context the most recently typed text. This includes specific commands as well as folder/files.

Obsidian and a shared Dropbox/Google Drive/OneDrive folder?

Bite the bullet, backup everything and start fresh. This time, setup LVM (w/wo encryption, your choice) and make sure to setup /var, /tmp, /home, etc. as separate volumes.

In another 10 years when you need to fully upgrade, you can preserve specific volumes and just swap out the system volumes with new installs. This also helps in case of issues which require system refreshes. Most importantly, as long as the drive isn’t busted, all you have to worry about backing up are specific configs and your home volume. The rest becomes simple.

I would recommend running a couple disaster recovery scenarios once setup.

To add to this, I also use Natron to replace After Effects. I use both of these on Linux and Windows too, serves me well as a light-mid user.