that’s where most of my ‘issues’ come from when upgrading an old debian… upstream version changes to major software packages (python, php, even apache 1.x to 2 back in the day) that require some manual intervention

it’s really not their responsibility to babysit user-initiated configuration changes and third-party software during updates and upgrades. the user makes the changes that go ‘off book’ and uses ‘non debian’ software–so that is where the responsibility lies.

‘decision anxiety’ is definitely real. there’s literally too many choices and different ways to deliver the same end result.

ubuntu studio is an excellent choice for your use case. you just gotta jump in with both feet

the intel alder lake-n and twin lake-n have some chips with very low tdp… basically just the “e cores” from a desktop cpu, drawing as little as 6w tdp. nice chips if you don’t need the raw compute power of the desktop’s performance cores. they make for nice little servers and laptops for ‘normal’ users. minipc form factor desktops with them are very affordable.

i like my laptop ‘server’. low power chip that never throttles up to its max 15w tdp, runs cool with display off and lid closed, needs no kb and mouse attached, and the battery is just a bonus ups. it sits out of the way on a shelf like a book.

if you go in not knowing what to do, it can seem ‘difficult’. but it’s mostly like on any other oem prebuilt:

optional: prep the target disk (backups, wipe or clear part table, etc), reset bios to defaults.

if necessary: switch from raid or rst to ahci sata mode, default boot mode to efi, disable secure boot. note that some distributions support secure boot but your method of creating an installer might not–you may be able to re-enable if you want after install.

note that hp systems have a hoop to jump through (a confirmation prompt to disable) after disabling secure boot on the next startup. do not use esc key to trigger boot menu, use f9 for boot menu, f10 for bios entry… as esc will cancel the confirmation code prompt and automatically re-enable secure boot.

insert or plug-in installer, hit the magic key upon power on (f12 for dell, f9 for hp) to bring up boot menu and select installer media, boot and run installer.