I always suggest Mint Edge edition, that has a newer kernel, not the default Mint. But I still suggest Mint, because simply, it’s more user friendly than any of the other ones. It has gui panels for almost everything.

You never know how the kernel would behave compared to how the BIOS is setup. There might be some bios settings that force the kernel to behave a specific way.

You can install LineageOS or e/OS on it (instead of Graphene, if that’s too controversial), and then the 4a is a good phone to use.

Was there no option about it on the BIOS/UEFI about something like that?

Greek military uses Linux Mint, so yeah, it’s used in some places. I believe the Indian one does too.

Personally, I prefer LocalSend to KDEConnect.

Edge is Cinnamon with a newer kernel. So, since you like XFce, try install the XFce version of Mint, and see if it works with your system. If it mostly works and boots, but not completely, you can always install the newer kernel found on Edge using the Update app (there’s a menu option to install newer kernels after installation). But if it doesn’t install/boot, but you’re confident that Linux should support your laptop, then consider the Edge version with Cinnamon.

It’s not false information. There are a lot of system-oriented things that don’t work through appimages or snaps or flatpaks, exactly because they’re sandboxed.

Do you mean a flatpak? Flatpaks are notorious for not integrating. Try to see if hidamari is available first as a .deb file in the official repos (uninstall the flatpak first). If that’s not it, then it seems that it doesn’t work with the Cinnamon desktop, which has control over the wallpaper functions.

I’d go with Linux Mint Edge Edition (not the default Mint). Better support for hardware than either plain Mint, or Debian, and more optimizations for laptops and battery (ubuntu might be hated, but they have lots of kernel patches). Also, for some weird reason, Mint with Cinnamon uses less RAM than Debian with Cinnamon. Also, easier support for third party non-free drivers.

I love BSD, but I wouldn’t want it on a laptop. They’re just not optimized for such usage with batteries etc.

Ι use Murena’s e/OS, I like the iphone-likeness of it. It works.

When it comes to expensive laptops, there are plenty of good options for Linux. But for cheaper stuff, your best bet might be a second hand DELL, a model that specifically says that it supports Linux (newer models use some new Intel webcams etc that don’t have support on linux yet).

Testing AI (knowledge system) was the first job out of college for me in the '90s (I used to be a programmer). I’m not against it, but I don’t like it in my feet either. I like using the operating system all by myself, or generating things on my own. Especially now that I’m an artist, I like painting on paper. I even dislike digital art (I find it flat), let alone generative art.

Use a distro with the latest kernel, like ubuntu, to have higher chances for this to be supported.

Go with Linux Mint, but the Edge edition. This will have the best chances to support your hardware, because it uses a newer kernel.

I’m very glad! :) Indeed, it’s a bit of a hidden tip, I had to search a lot before I could get my Debian to boot too on my DELL.

Do the calculations yourself, because I have.

For me, it works just fine as a decision point. And real work usage of the computers I moved to Linux was very similar to what they report, they reflected just fine. So I don’t see any point to not use it, or even more so, to not suggest it to others, when the discussion warrants it.

My mom and my family used chrome before, and they’re used to its bells and whistles. I personally use firefox.

Many times you need to use the terminal with Win and Mac too. Sometimes something goes wrong, or you need to enable something that doesn’t have a UI. So in the last few years, I’ve used the terminal with these OSes too. So I don’t see why you wouldn’t use the terminal with Linux too.

The only time you wouldn’t use the terminal at all, is if someone else is your sysadmin, and you’re just driving a browser or a couple of apps, as a plain user. Then sure, you’ll never need to touch the terminal. My mom only uses a browser for example on her linux laptop. It’s good enough for her. But when there’s an update or anything else such, I’m the one dealing with it.