I think it’s far worse than you make it sound. When I entered the workforce (while also paying to go to a trade school that was a scam) min wage was $6. While I was able to rise through the ranks pretty fast it was a long time of scraping by just to eat and pay bills so i could keep working.
Nearly 30 years later federal minimum wage is $1.25 more than were i started. Adjusted for inflation that’s impossible to live on, I didn’t have it easy by any means but at least I could survive. I’d never have had a chance with things as they are now. I feel bad for the youth of this country that don’t happen to have the right hookups and connections or, sometimes, luck.
I have to agree with most people, arch is probably the way to go.
But given the subject I’m gonna piggy back on you and ask about KDE Neon. This is what got me back into desktop Linux after installing it on an old crappy tablet.
Now i currently run it on a couple older but upgraded AIOs and even my server that primarily does VMs.
If i understand it’s a little more bleeding edge than people would normally like but I’m curious the community thoughts on it as i don’t hear much. Am I missing out not running arch or mint?