I would prefer something based on Debian, like Ubuntu or PopOS, but I’m open for other suggestions as well, as I’m looking for a distro to daily-drive on my new Framework laptop.
I know you said you want something Debian-based, but Fedora is my go-to distro for daily driver workstations. Rock solid, has up to date software, and the release upgrade process has never failed me.
You’ve named three great suggestions. There was a new stable Debian release two days ago. A decade ago, I found Debian stable a bit too stale and testing buggy, but things have changed for the better with flatpak being as ubiquitous as it is.
Just make sure to get the non-free firmware iso if you think you might need it for something like wifi.
I find snap on Ubuntu annoying, slow and the cli tool cryptic. I’d probably use PopOS in preference to Ubuntu just because of that.
Finally, the difference between using a Debian vs Fedora vs Arch derivative isn’t as much as it’s hyped up to be. It’s really the release cycle and QA that matter and that’s personal taste.
Why not directly Debian ?
This is the way. Why go through middle man when you can go straight to the source.
Just remember, stable is for servers, testing is for workstations.
Stable isnt just “for servers”. I run stable on my laptop as well
OP said they dont need it for gaming, so you dont need the latest, shiniest things. Stable + backports should be good enough for most people unless you’re doing some really specialized work
