Linux Appreciation Thread

[Who]

I've been considering downloading Linux for a few weeks now, which distribution is best?

My impression of all the distributions:
Ubuntu is easy to install and stable but several people tell me not to do it because "proprietary bad". Also by default it uses Gnome but Mate Ubuntu also exists and doesn't use Gnome.

Debian is basically the same as Ubuntu but more difficult to install. Also the stable releases are super spread out so using old software? But that doesn't seem like a huge issue, other than security there isn't really much difference between software now and software 2 years ago. Though it isn't proprietary so all the people who say "proprietary bad" advocate for Debian.

Arch and Gentoo are shitloads of work and unstable. Manjaro removes the "shitloads of work" part of Arch but is still unstable.

Qubes has some interesting ideas, but is difficult more difficult to install than Ubuntu or Debian and also has issues with dual-booting.

Are any of these wrong? Am I missing anything important?

[Who]

As someone with an NVidia graphics card, I don't appreciate Debian's habit of putting barriers in the way of obtaining drivers, and that's pushing me towards Ubuntu.

Arch and Gentoo, especially if Manjaro isn't an option, seem like a lot of work for no payoff. Customizability is nice but I've been told that everything can be customized, Arch and Gentoo are just special in that they force you to choose everything yourself to start with as opposed to starting with presets and changing things later. The rolling releases may not be that unstable but as a newbie I'd rather the total stability of something like Debian. My familiarity with bash/zshell is that approximately once a month I find sed useful, so if I'm talking to a normal person I can call myself capable of using using the terminal but if I'm talking to someone who uses Gentoo I know absolutely nothing.

[Who]

I think part of the fun for me is the work haha. If you don't think you'll like it you probably won't!

I might, but:
1) I don't really have time for it.
2) The learning process seems kind of brutal/there's no starting point. I've been enjoying customizing Emacs recently, but only because it started off as an ordinary text editor. I tried learning all its fanciness at once a while ago and got nowhere.

I'm probably going to start with Ubuntu. Maybe switch to something else later but for now start with the easiest.

[Who]

I installed qubes on a laptop a while ago and now don't use it much, though that isn't entirely due to the software. Windows is getting worse, and threatening to become apocalyptically awful in the future, so I figure it's time to download linux onto a desktop. It is again time to choose a distro.

Options I'm considering:
Ubuntu Mate - Pros: Seems like the easiest to use, has up to date software, doesn't hate NVIDIA. Cons: Is Ubuntu.
Debian - Pros: Isn't Ubuntu. Easy to use. Isn't Arch. Cons: Doesn't have up to date software, hates NVIDIA.
Arch - Pros: Is Arch. Cons: Is Arch.

[Who]

Update: Tried installing debian and failed, badly. I'm impressed Windows still works.

[Who]

I got Debian working but I'm not sure how much I'll use it. Proton is nowhere near as good as advertised, so I still need Windows for video games, which are the primary purpose of the desktop.

With regard to Endeavour, I've been told that all derivatives of Arch will break things and that if I didn't build Arch from scratch I wouldn't know how to fix them. Though Debian has already broken (and been fixed) in what is hopefully the worst possible way Arch variants might break things, so I guess not using an Arch-based system doesn't protect me from that. I think I'm done with Linux for now though, it can't replace Windows for gaming and I'm happy enough with my mac laptop for everything else.