Edit: I'll try my luck with Kubuntu and see how things go. Wish me luck :D
So I have been happily using my Surface Go 2 for a couple years now and don't really have a lot of complaints right now. However, Microsoft being Microsoft and Windows being Windows, I'd like to move to a Linux distro because foss is just cooler and Linux is cooler lol.
I'm mainly using my Surface for school: taking hand-written notes in Journal, annotating and highlighting text in PDFs with Drawboard, and browsing the web. Very basic stuff. Not gaming, not really a power user either, so I don't need any fancy distro that allows me to go under the hood and tinker.
Before moving, I've got a couple of things I'd like to ask:
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Which distro should I choose? Something similar to Windows wouldn't hurt but doesn't have to be necessarily. I've previously installed and used (K)ubuntu on an old laptop of mine and it worked fine. I've heard that Mint is more or less one of the best choices for transitioning since it "just works" and has pretty much anything you could want right off the bat - settings and drivers and such. Is Mint fine for a Surface Go 2? I can add my specs if needed.
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Do you have recommendations for a notes taking app and a PDF reader that allows for editing, annotating, highlighting text? I've had a thorough chat with GPT (don't judge) and have been recommend Xournal++ which is apparently also available on Linux. I've played around with it a little and it seems fine, but I'd also take recommendations from the community if you have any.
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Would I be fine running Linux off an SD card that I have inserted in my device? The interal storage of the Surface is quite limited with 120GB, so it has an SD card slot to expand its storage; my SD card has another 120GB on it. I've mostly been fine just using the internal storage, but it's slowly running out, so I will likely have to use the SD card at some point. Should I make the effort of moving all my data - like documents, photos and stuff - to the SD card and install Linux onto the internal storage itself alongside Windows, or would I also be fine installing Linux onto the SD card? Apparently, this is not ideal because of slower read and write speeds compared to the built-in SSD (?) storage; moving all the data is not too much fun either, however.
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Is stylus/Surface Pen support a thing on Linux? And will the Surface keyboard work fine too? I imagine yes, but I don't know for sure. That would be a must for whatever distro I choose since it's the primary way of taking notes and typing for me.
That should be it, I think. Anything else that might be interesting for me or important to know?
I've got a different model but as others have said the linux-surface kernel is key, and their GitHub page has detailed compatibility info and installation instructions. I picked Fedora having never used it before because it was well-supported and I've got no complaints.
More critical than distro is desktop environment. A few people were recommending Gnome but they must be a bit out of date now as I didn't have a great experience; incompatible extensions, missing gestures, and generally a worse feel than Windows! I've just installed KDE Plasma Mobile and it's great, feels more like Android and has way more features.
The linux-surface installation instructions will walk you through this, but I'd just download the Fedora Plasma Mobile spin, put it on a USB drive, boot it to check you like it (though expect that a few things might not work properly until you install the linux-surface kernel), install it (you can dual-boot with Windows if you think you might need it or just replace the whole OS if you're concerned about space), and then install the kernel.
Happy to try and answer any more questions about installing!
Commenting to add here, this is not going to be about distro choice as much as seeing what configuration on the Linux-surface guide provides greatest support.
There are many things that may not work on your surface due to support, so definitely follow those guides.
Spent hours trying to get the Webcam to work on Surface Go 1.