Linux

OpenSUSE Tumbleweed Most stable rolling, in my opinion.

Can you please like write the points in a list and not with these weird // in between? Lemmy uses markdown

- this (that space between line and text is important)
- is 
- a list

* this
* too
* forwhateverreason

``` before and after something : codeblock

*italic*

**bold**

***both***

yes Debian, install latest MX Linux (23.2 AHS) and enjoy it, it's a great distro, up to date, well maintained. There is a KDE version where you can install latest kernel from their AHS repo (6.6.11 as time of writing)

Of course debian.

However pure debian needs some love before you can use it.

If you want to use steam. Enable 32 bit arch.

If you want to use flatpak. You need to install it and add the default repo.

To install kde plasma you need only a single apt command.

I personally run debian-testing/Trixie.

don't shit on my kde neon like that :(

kde neon doesn't come with snap packages, it only supports it so that the user can install snap apps if they want to.

it's a great distro and i highly recommend it

Psst... Try nixos 😹

what does half stable mean?
stable os with fresh applications?

if thats what you are looking for,
maybe debian with flatpacks for fresher softwares?

or if you also dont like flatpack, maybe
debian with nix

people will read stable and instantly comment debian

Jokes aside, given that you said in a comment that it's for non-tech-savvy people, I'd say Linux Mint, partially just because it will look familiar if they've seen any Windows PC.

Definitely Debian. Or Mint if you also like the cinnamon desktop (which is similar to KDE's in terms of default look).

What about Pop!_OS? It fits all the criteria. It's an Ubuntu distro by System76 (known for their computers that run Linux) that foregoes Snaps for Flatpaks, so you get Ubuntu's reliability/stability without the Snaps. It does default to its own spin on GNOME, however you can install an alternative desktop environment just fine.

Debian Stable as base OS, then activate unstable repos in a sandbox/container. Maybe even Distrobox for newer Apps.

kde neon don't use snaps

@Luffy879 If someone comes from Windows and has little experience with Linux Mint LTS with XFCE4.
https://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=313
With MX Linux (Debian based) you can create a live ISO with all packages and flat packs and then create a live USB stick with persistence (requires double memory on the Linux partition For the ISO)
https://mxlinux.org/
you can make installs from the usb after creating it.
Distrochooser
https://distrochooser.de/

disable repositories, updates https://github.com/aarnt/octopi, https://ctlos.github.io/, https://endeavouros.com/.

Regarding your post formatting, you need to put a space between the bullet point and the first character of the line:

• Like this (hit view source/view markdown on my comment to see)

Sorry, the closest i came up aren't good solution but may help in your search.

• Vanilla OS 2 (based on Debian) but it is under Gnome DE and in beta phase. Very begginer friendly. Maybe once it go out from beta it will supports other DE ? So check it around 6th month later or 1 year ?

But the problem is that their community is very small. If you want something stable, it's better to look for bigger community so you can benefit from their support and user's problems

There is fedora kinoite but you don't want anything related to IBM. That was the best compromise i can found.

• NixOS but i don't know it. I'm affraid it will be a DIY distro at the beggining with the config file. But it will probably meet all your criterias.

Or the same OS from my steamdeck :

• Steam OS ? It's an immutable OS based on Arch and support KDE by default. Full support of flatpaks. Only downside, i dunno if it supports other machines than the steamdeck. Nor if it uses the latest linux kernel. Maybe some variants ?

Solus. Snaps optional.

OpenSUSE is good. If corporate scares you off, there's OpenMandriva Lx or Mageia.

Debian testing or nixos

When you start getting super specific about which distro you want, I think you should start looking towards a DIY distro.

Have you tried Mint? It's super stable. It's the least DIY distro ever. You CAN use snaps, but why would anyone want to? I believe there's an image that comes with KDE, but Cinnamon is a great desktop.

Sounds like Debian is your answer.

I think you should go with OpenSuse

I've been running Linux Mint Cinnamon for years. It's the stablest, most dependable distro I've ever run. I've installed it, updated it and major-version-upgraded it many times on many machines and it never broke.

It's basically Ubuntu with the features that make Ubuntu shite removed (basically Unity and snaps) and a no-nonsense, GTK-based Win95-like desktop environment tacked on.

Debian

Two come to mind. Have fun distro hopping :)

• https://distrowatch.com/spiral (Debian based)

• https://distrowatch.com/opensuse (Has a rolling release choice)

What does a DIY distro mean? Is typing archinstall out of the question?

Opensuse Tumbleweed is pretty stable, even though it's a rolling release