It's time for the time-worn question. Which Linux should I choose?
I have experience running Ubuntu both as an install and through WSL, and I've been in charge of multiple Linux servers, one RedHat and a few Ubuntu. So I'm not afraid of some fiddling. Though I will say, I'd like it to just work most of the time. That's why I'm here.
Typical use case for my computer is I have a ~40" ancient TV and a ~22" monitor to the side. I often put videos or something on the small monitor and play games on the TV. Most of my games are FitGirl repacks or otherwise from the seas. I know Linux gaming has come a long way, but would this be an issue? Also, I like that I can turn the second monitor on and off easily through the UI with WinKey + P.
Aside from that, anything can do what I want it to. I dabble with some programming here and there, etc.
Thanks in advance for your input. I'm honestly just tired and don't feel like doing all the research myself at the moment.
I literally moved from Debian to Arch because Debian had more broken shit (because old software) that was harder to fix.
Archwiki is love. I recommend arch because if you follow the excellent installation instructions on the wiki you will know
But if you just want to like use stuff and not understand a system or make any choices about it then fedora is probably fine.
Debian is great if the things you want to do have been a thoroughly solved problem for a few years already. Debian is a pain if you are trying to get something working which only recently became possible / practical. I love Debian, but I only use it on machines which don't have time for dedicated maintenance beyond
apt update; apt upgrade
.On my desktop I run Gentoo (high maintenance, highly customizable). On my laptop I run Fedora (lower maintenance, but still a LOT more churn than Debian). On everything else, it's Debian (practically no maintenance. Software versions are locked in place for like two years at a time and these 'dist-upgrades' are the only situation where you need to dedicate any time to it).