From Ubuntu to ArchLinux or Rocky is a big change. But let's go!
Manjaro + XFCE4 or Plasma
Why? Arch based and let's you get into the ArchLinux world of doing things. AUR is a huge plus.
RockyLinux + XFCE4 or Plasma
A rock solid distro that put's you to learn the same commands for the Red Hat world. Since most software works on Fedora, it will work here.
So my desktop is ArchLinux + XFCE4 but my favorite is Plasma. All my other RHEL or Rocky have no desktop environment, only terminal.
I don't like Ubuntu for so many reasons but many people use it. Instead of Ubuntu, I would prefer Debian.
Stay away from? Fedora, CentOS, and all other, unless you want to test those, but you can do it on a VM.
For example, Alpine is great but for some specific scenarios.
Also choose a systemd distro. If you want to test a systemd-less distro, do it on a vm.
Comments
From Ubuntu to ArchLinux or Rocky is a big change. But let's go!
Manjaro + XFCE4 or Plasma Why? Arch based and let's you get into the ArchLinux world of doing things. AUR is a huge plus.
RockyLinux + XFCE4 or Plasma A rock solid distro that put's you to learn the same commands for the Red Hat world. Since most software works on Fedora, it will work here.
So my desktop is ArchLinux + XFCE4 but my favorite is Plasma. All my other RHEL or Rocky have no desktop environment, only terminal.
I don't like Ubuntu for so many reasons but many people use it. Instead of Ubuntu, I would prefer Debian.
Stay away from? Fedora, CentOS, and all other, unless you want to test those, but you can do it on a VM.
For example, Alpine is great but for some specific scenarios.
Also choose a systemd distro. If you want to test a systemd-less distro, do it on a vm.