IMO, definitely dump Ubuntu as quick as you can. Linux Mint is a great Ubuntu-based alternative that gets you all the benefits of Ubuntu (plus some) and none of the Canonical bullshit. If you want to divorce from Ubuntu entirely, LMDE is a great project that rebases Mint on plain Debian! Another lovely project by that team.

Personally, my first pick daily driver is OpenSUSE Tumbleweed. If you like playing with config files and the idea of hyper-replicable system setups NixOS is a very interesting project that I've enjoyed a lot in the past.

CachyOS is getting quite a lot of attention recently, and as far as Arch-based distros go I have enjoyed using it. It has a lot of performance claims, but does come with all the drawbacks of ArchLinux and bleeding-edge rolling release distros -- not that it's a terrible experience, it just requires you to be more mindful and more capable than your average distro, especially if you're going to utilize the AUR.

TL;DR - there are a boatload of interesting distros out there. My first recommendation would be Linux Mint/LMDE for familiarity and ease of entry.

The Arch Wiki is the resource to go to. It's usually one of the first places I look for info, and one of the first I recommend -- for users of any distro. Has been for a long time.

The number of times I have said this... The urge to hop will return. I recommend investing in a cheap secondary piece of hardware, like an older used Lenovo Thinkpad.

I'm not trying to mimic how Omarchy looks. I am looking to replicate a very specific end result not "turn another distro into Omarchy."

There is one specific part of what Omarchy does that I am asking about: how to achieve the custom branding of certain aspects of the OS. Nothing else. I don't care if the path to the end result is the "Omarchy way" or not, I'm trying to see what avenues exist to achieve that same end result. Linux has many ways to do the same thing.

I don't need an LLM for that. I don't want to use an LLM to try and achieve it. And I don't have to. That's the beauty of choice. I won't be replying to you past this point, as there's no merit here. Thanks for your engagement, have a nice night, day, or whatever time it is wherever you are!

Hello, TrollAccount69. 🙂

I could let AI think for me, or I could learn how to manage in on my own.

If you seriously want to employ AI effectively, I find knowing how to do what you're asking it to do is the best way to get good results. Otherwise... Who knows what's going to come out the other end!

I like to handle my system myself. Managing my install is fun for me. I'm just looking for general advice, not for someone to do it all for me.

Interesting. Thanks!

Cachy has been on my radar for a while, too. Definitely worth checking out, thanks!

Thanks for the links and advice! I'll take a look at those dotfiles for sure.

Hmm, another solid call-out. ISO 100 gang, where you at?

True. I was hoping for an element of human experience, more general guidance and personal preferences than a step-by-step.

I'm sure the Arch Wiki probably has a page in it somewhere that covers the basics, and I definitely plan on looking for neutral resources like that. I'd also love to hear from the community, likes or dislikes, different software solutions. I always find it interesting and enlightening to learn how other people are doing things. 🙂

A fair point! You'd be surprised where some people's deficits lie. I've used Linux for many years, but never bothered messing with the theming for greeters or the like before -- I never really cared. 🤷‍♂️

So while I would definitely say I'm technically savvy enough to accomplish the task, it's also something I've never poked before. Figured it couldn't hurt to pick the collective brain of the Internet for knowledge and recommendations. Maybe someone out there knows a trick I wouldn't find elsewhere, or a lovely piece of software I should look into.

A solid recommendation. I'll bookmark it for a rainy day.