I used Ubuntu for over 10 years. I loved it. But Canonical does have a lot of baggage. Plus, I wanted to go to the source. So thatโs why I use Debian. Iโd still advise a new user to go for Mint if they loved the Windows UI or Ubuntu if they hated it. If you use and love Mint, I donโt think anyone would criticize you for continuing to use it. If you use and love Ubuntu, Iโd say Debian is a very easy next step.
I used to be โDebian on the server, Ubuntu on the desktopโ but recently Iโve spun up a few Debian boxes for desktop and Iโm pleasantly surprised.
Kinda wish Valve would go for a full-out supported distro that stays in step with the Deck for Linux gamers (the old desktop SteamOS is kinda abandoned from what I can see), among with making the deck frontend a supported desktop manager. It would make sense for them to do so and rake in the game sales whilst providing a well-supported platform without the shit others are doing.
Check out Bazzite, itโs basically that. Iโve been using it on my desktop for gaming and development for a month or so now and itโs been great.