Linux

I like the video by Chris Titus Tech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyADkmRVe0U

He puts about 40 Distros into a tier list and I completly agree with him. Spoiler:

Supreme: Debian, Arch

Amazing for new users: Kubuntu, Mint, Zorin, Nobara

Devil: RedHat, Fedora, Ubuntu, CentOS

But it is a nice short introduction to the goal of each distro.

If you're fine with rolling release distros, go for EndeavourOS. It's based on Arch (uses the Arch repos as well as its own for its specific needs) but has everything configured for a working desktop out of the box. There's not much I can say that everyone else hasn't, if you like the Arch ecosystem but don't like the (potential) tedium of setting it up, EndeavourOS is good. The thing with rolling release distros is that the package release cycle is not stable. This is not to be confused with reliability, Arch can be a reliable distro, but where most distros stay on a particular version for its release cycle, a rolling release distro updates its packages as soon as the new version comes out. If you want that, then go full steam ahead on Endeavour.

I'm gonna throw another distro for you to try, if you're not a fan of the nature of rolling release: Nobara. You mention you wanted something stable with a good package manager, and IMO Nobara fits the bill. Like how EndeavourOS is based on Arch, Nobara is a gaming-oriented distro based on Fedora, which updates every six months. The guy who runs it works/worked for Red Hat and is responsible for the GE-Proton patches that help extend Steam Play compatibility unofficially, and he wanted to make something that was as easy as switching a game console on. There are a lot of patches and tweaks done to the kernel and apps as needed, to ensure that the user doesn't need to reach for the terminal as often, if at all. You can still do your productive work on Nobara, you can just think of it as Fedora (an already solid workstation distro) but with a gaming flair to it.

TL;DR: For stable releases, get Nobara. For rolling releases, get EndeavourOS. If one pisses you off in the future, go for the other lol

Linux mint

Linux Mint

What distro do you use at work? Using that at home would benefit you professionally as well. I’d start there unless it’s redhat.

I did the classic, jump in at the deep end approach, and ended up with some distro hoping for a while. I then settled on Fedora.

Why? It did everything I wanted to do and did it well. I found some distro so easy to setup but harder to maintain, some really slick but problematic with updates and apps. Fedora, for me, just worked.

All that said, there are various factors to consider, including your hardware configuration. Some distro just happen to work better on some hardware specs, especially when considering your graphics.

I have a similar usage to you, covering a little bit of everything including gaming and dev and, so far, everything continues to work. So much so, I am thinking of switching my gaming rig over to Fedora in the coming weeks.

You want Xerolinux. Ships with little, already configured and with beautiful looks, arch based.

You make it sound like all distros are paid, not free. With that said... all distros can deliver the same quality as you'd expect out of a "stable OS". Still, theres Nobara, Linux Mint, ZorinOS and Garuda for your "noob-friendly" needs.

arch is super stable ( for the most part ) at with the arch install script it's easier than ever to install, endeavouros is a gui installer but leaves you with basically an arch system

ive been running arch on my desktop and laptop for years and the only issue I had was that fucked up grub change that somehow got thru

LMDE

I have to agree with most people, arch is probably the way to go.

But given the subject I'm gonna piggy back on you and ask about KDE Neon. This is what got me back into desktop Linux after installing it on an old crappy tablet.

Now i currently run it on a couple older but upgraded AIOs and even my server that primarily does VMs.

If i understand it's a little more bleeding edge than people would normally like but I'm curious the community thoughts on it as i don't hear much. Am I missing out not running arch or mint?

PopOS or Endeavor

Fedora is a great distro

Nobara (which is Fedora but enhanced for gaming and streaming) or Debian/Debian testing or Mint

"highly configurable" and "very little effort to start using" don't blend together in car mechanics, and they don't in Linux either.

I was going to suggest Gentoo or Arch because they're the standard for "highly configurable" but they really demand some effort to start using them.

Also, so far, only Debian really, really, cares about open source, most distros don't mind copyrighted video codecs or proprietary GPU drivers if they make the user's life easier.

Void fits the bill. Debian if you don't want rolling.

Probably Arch.

DistroWatch

I would avoid Ubuntu and Fedora because of their corporate shenanigans. I've had a very painless experience with Pop!_OS as my daily driver and there's a version that comes with Nvidia support already baked in. Otherwise, I would recommend Mint D which is the version that ditched Ubuntu for pure Debían (what Ubuntu is a fork of).

FYI, I just switched to Linux few months ago from Windows and have been using Arch/EndeavorOS with KDE, and have had a wonderful experience.

I have a relative who's been using Linux for years, and that's the one they helped me install. I needed their help a handful of times the first couple of weeks, but since then I've been on my own and I love it.

Depends if you want bleeding edge or not. I don't mind it, but I get update notifications like 3x a week.

Arch is best for you. As you have experience with Linux, you won't have issues configuring it according to your needs. Arch wiki is a gold mine.

I'd say mint or debian, and NixOS is neat if you're willing to spend weeks on it. It allows you to make reproducible and declarative systems as well as declaring sets of packages for the current thing you have to do