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Real question if I can sneak one in. If I want to buy a machine suitable to run Darktable for photo editing, which Linux distribution would be ideal for that? Other than photo editing, I might watch movies in browser while browsing other sites on a different screen. That's all I really use PC to do these days. Advice? I don't want to accidently use a butt plug.
Edit for additional context if it wasn't immediately apparent: I am a casual who just doesn't like Microsoft. But I don't use anything else that concerns me for a switch to Linux. I just want easy setup and use for my purposes.
I would personally recommend EndeavourOS or PopOS.
I recommend EndeavourOS primarily because of it's ease of use and rolling distro means you'll have access to the latest bug fixes and patches (and a very active and supportive community), whereas it does come with the drawback of requiring to fix things every now and then if you've installed packages from places other than endeavour/Aur or require packages/apps that are older.
Yay (package manager) is very easy to get using as a beginner, however, if you don't want rolling updates and just large update packages similar in scope to windows service pack updates I'd recommend popos or the sister/base os ubuntu. (fedora apparently may be good in this instance as well but I've very little contact with the OS and have been avoiding RHEL-related products recently because of their anti-consumer and anti-open source actions recently).
Ultimately it's definitely recommended that you try a few distro's to get a feel for what you like and then customize to your hearts content.
https://distrowatch.com/ if you'd like a more in depth review of various distros and what their performance bonuses or problems are.
EndeavourOS with xfce4 is very clean and quick to pick up with their little introductory/learning module that they include (once installed or on live, it will provide a popup that includes the following):
I’ve switched from Windows 11 to Pop!_OS and don’t have any complaints. It looks different to Windows (no start menu like windows) but that wasn’t a turn off for me. If you want something that looks closer to a windows machine, Mint is a great option
I always recommend mint. There are a lot of small convenience features that remove friction points for new users and because it's based on the very popular Ubuntu there are a lot of documentation out there.
I have no experience with Darktable. But, really any and every distro should do it. Every distro comes with a learning curve. My personal advice would be not to go with distro derivatives. In the early days, Ubuntu was quite good, for making Debian "more accessible" to a larger audience and people unfamiliar with linux. I still like it for being an African success story. But, I can't recommend it anymore for a slew of reasons. So, I'd say, go with debian, fedora, or even Arch. If you want to go with debian, you should know about non-free. If you go with fedora, you should know about rpmfusion. If you want to go with Arch, you should be comfortable with a more bare-bones and hands-on experience and reading the Arch-wiki (which is one of the most extensive and best wikis out there, and even useful if you use another distro). If you want something stable that just works and don't need the newest of the new software, use debian. If you want the bleeding edge, that mostly just works, go with fedora. If you want the bleeding edge, want maximum control, and are not afraid to stay on top of it, go with Arch. Of course, many other distros could be a good pick for you. They all have pros and cons.