Ubuntu‘s proprietary format? How would that even impact your intended use? Don’t get dragged into all the silly flame wars around purity of FOSS and such.

Linux distributions are more similar than different. The distribution you use matters less than online discussions by enthusiasts make you believe. Many of these ricers and tinkerers think it’s fun to fix snd troubleshoot their system all the time.

Choosing a distribution with a large user base, stability, reliability, and good support is more important than a shiny feature.

Many of the small distributions don’t support upgrading to new releases of the same distribution for example. You have to reinstall instead.