I like art and game design, but other stuff is cool too.
It’s definitely great for the mainstream. Think of Linus Sebastian who has somehow broken every OS except for SteamOS.
It’s not great for me who uses Arch Linux btw with the expectation that if the system doesn’t break on its own, then I will break it myself.
Some of the stuff I would do if my system was held together by more than literally just hopes and dreams.
If you’re running an Nvidia gpu, then Linux Mint is great for not needing to deal with setup issues.
If you’re going with an AMD gpu or no gpu at all, then i actually recommend Garuda Linux. It’s Arch-based so you may need to keep up with the updates more often. But you’ll get access to the AUR, a centralized* repository for just about every program you’ll need to install. I personally find it and pacman easier to use than apt.
What spec of laptop are you thinking of getting?
He can be an asshole, but I believe finding bugs is part of his job.
Would you rather have him find them and complain to a community who might know what they could be, or someone else who will just complain and buy a MacBook instead?