I wonder how long it will take before it will drop off the top 10.

I'm kinda familiar with that rabbit hole :P . Though, I didn't quite consider your 3rd and 4th methods. So kudos to you for that!

While writing up a draft, I actually stumbled upon an (unfinished) article that goes over this subject in way more depth than I could.

Though, the author doesn't mention NovaCustom that intends to combine Boot Guard, Heads and QubesOS certification on their devices.

Lovely collaboration! You just love to see it.

It was heralded as such a couple of years back. And while I'd argue it didn't manage to keep up the momentum since, this recent update has definitely reignited my enthusiasm towards the project.

Regardless, you should test out distros that interest you on a Live-USB. I'd recommend employing Ventoy to that effect as it allows you to simply stack multiple ISOs on the same USB. Furthermore, adding/removing ISOs is as easy as placing/removing it in/from the designated folder. In effect, it does a great job at streamlining the process.

As for which distro to use, consider making a dedicated post in one of the Linux communities with this inquiry. Consider mentioning stuff like:

• activities on PC
• what software you use
• device specs

If you're not interested in creating a dedicated post, but would like a rundown/infodump instead, then consider requesting that in a reply to this comment.

I love both GNOME and automatic/dynamic tiling. So Regolith should have been a match made in heaven. However, unfortunately:

• It's not found in the repositories of any major distro. You know it's messed up if it's not packaged as a nixpkg!
• If you can look surpass that, it's still intended only on Debian/Ubuntu. While the AUR package exists (and even RebornOS -an Arch-derivative- offers it in their own repos), you're simply out of luck outside of that. So, as a Fedora enjoyer myself, this unfortunately applies to me as well.

Thanks for answering!

xubuntu

I've only started to use Linux after Snaps were introduced to Ubuntu. As the community has been pretty vocal in their disdain, I lost any inclinations to test out Ubuntu or any of its flavors from the get-go.

Though, I have used Zorin lite; which is Ubuntu LTS with Xfce by the Zorin OS team. Which is probably the closest I'll get to Xubuntu. From what I recall, it was pretty neat. I did use the terminal, but it was more out of convention. Therefore I don't really recognize myself in the following sentiment:

it still forces you to learn how to use it!

Would you mind elaborating?

Unsure if you're being serious or not. Or if this is just bait. So I apologize in case I just got whooshed.

There's a decent amount of distros that don't require you to ever operate a terminal. Updates either

• happen automatically in the background
• Or, you're prompted for an update and can choose to run it
• Or, within settings or a dedicated app, you can press a button to initiate the process of updating

Furthermore, most distros that are recommended for beginners don't need regular updates anyways.

Updating isn't the only part that has been taken care of by this set of distros. Linux has become pretty smooth sailing overall.

Notable exceptions to the above are mostly tied to some janky/troublesome hardware setup. Or, if you'd like to run software that isn't easily accessible. In those cases, while a GUI-only solution may exist, it's simply a lot easier for all involved parties if a terminal solution is offered instead:

• it works on most distros; irrespective of version, DE, base distro or whatsoever. So, the one providing a solution doesn't have to create over a dozen of distinct solutions to cover all bases
• these methods tend to change a lot less frequently. Sometimes solutions are tied to DEs, and these may change how they organize stuff over time. So, terminal solutions have better longevity
• instead of moving through dozens of menus/toolbars/buttons or whatsoever, you literally copy and paste a couple of commands and you're done. I would prefer the terminal any day

OP, you did get me curious, though. Which distro do you use?

It ain't perfect. But it's the best we got when it comes to a secure OS on x86.

The author is even quite explicit when they mentioned to use Fedora Silverblue for gaming.

I believe the author continues to make use of NixOS VMs withing Qubes OS.

Even if you're rightfully concerned, they become non-issues in the author's platform of choice: Qubes OS.

The reason (I think) they mentioned all of those explicitly Linux things, is because they've also stopped using OpenBSD VMs in Qubes OS.

Obligatory watch for those interested in buying a new laptop. TL;DW: the latest generation of CPUs is such an improvement over the last one, that it feels like you're seriously missing out if you don't buy one of 'm.

Assuming that Arm-powered Linux devices aren't 'ready' for your workloads, we're left with the latest by AMD and Intel.

However, it's noteworthy to mention that these aren't provided by traditionally Linux-first vendors like NovaCustom, System76, Star Labs or TUXEDO computers yet.

Heck, these are currently only found on laptops by ASUS, HP, Lenovo and MSI. And from within their offerings, none are sold with Linux OOTB yet. This isn't important for easy install (as I've yet to find one bundled with EndeavourOS anyways), but it is for proper Linux support so early into its lifecycle.

So, quite frankly, I'd suggest you to abstain from buying a device right now as it might lead to buyer's remorse. Instead, consider buying one at next year's Black Friday.

However, if you truly need one device right now, then I'd stick to one sold with an AMD Zen 4 processor. Furthermore, either ensure that the device is sold with Linux OOTB, or check out its ArchWiki entry to see how well-documented it is and buy accordingly.

For specific device recommendations, you seem to be particularly interested in making use of Black Friday deals, and thus I'd assume that price is an important factor. Unfortunately, most Linux-first vendors aren't particularly known for offering great buck for your money. This does make it easier to choose, though.

Taking all of the above into consideration, we actually arrive -perhaps unsurprisingly- at Lenovo's Thinkpad line of devices with AMD's Zen 4 processors.

So with the recent drama it looks like bcachefs isn’t going to stay in the kernel for too long.

That's way too doomsaying. Even after ReiserFS' developer was sentenced in 2006, it took till 2022 for it to be deprecated. And it has only recently been left out of of the kernel.