thatonecoder

I've been thinking about the best way to refer to systems that use the Linux kernel, whilst avoiding the confusions that come with using the latter for both meanings. Since there are GNU and non-GNU (e.g, Alpine Linux) systems, I assume that *Linux would cover both. However, for users without a technical background, the asterisk means much less than it does to developers — this seems self-deprecating, considering that the point of the suggested term is to avoid confusion for NON-TECHNICAL users. Am I overthinking?

Background: I am a lifelong Windows user who is planning to move to Linux in October, once Microsoft drops support for Windows 10. I use a particularly bad laptop (Intel Celeron N3060, 4 GB DDR3 RAM, 64 GB eMMC storage).

I do have some degree of terminal experience in Windows, but I would not count on it. If there are defaults that are sensible enough, I'd appreciate it. I can also configure through mouse-based text editors, as long as there is reliable, concise documentation on that app.

So, here's what I want in a distro and desktop environment:

• Easy to install, maintain (graphical installation and, preferably, package management too + auto-updating for non-critical applications)
• Lightwight and snappy (around 800 MB idle RAM usage, 10-16 GB storage usage in a base install)
• Secure (using Wayland, granular GUI-based permission control)

I have narrowed down the distributions and desktop environments that seem promising, but want y'all's opinions on them.

Distributions:

• Linux Mint Xfce: Easy to install, not prone to randomly break (problems: high OOTB storage usage, RAM consumption seems a little too high, kind of outdated packages, not on Wayland yet)
• Fedora: Secure, the main DEs use Wayland (problems: similar to above except for the outdated packages; also hard to install and maintain, from what I have heard)
• antiX Linux (problems: outdated packages, no Wayland)

Desktop Environments:

• Xfce: Lightweight, fast, seems like it'd work how I want (problems: not on Wayland yet, that's it)
• labwc + other Wayland stuff: Lightweight, fast, secure (problems: likely harder to install, especially since I have no Linux terminal experience, cannot configure through a GUI)

In advance, I thank you all for helping me!

I appreciate any help, especially in things like:

• Neofetch screenshots, to showcase idle RAM usage on some DEs
• Experiences with some distributions

As the title goes - I think it's a good solution for some of the Western World's problems, like politicians not following their campaign promises. On the other hand, conflicting politics are a big possibility, which would create further problems. Any ideas?