I first used Linux about 5 years ago (Ubuntu). Since then, I have tried quite a few distros:
Kali Linux (Use as a secondary)
Linux Mint (Used for a while)
Arch Linux (Could not install)
Tails (Use this often)
Qubes OS (Tried it twice, not ready yet)
Fedora (Current main)
For me, it has been incredibly difficult to find a properly privacy oriented Linux distro that also has ease of use. I really enjoy the GNOME desktop environment, and I am most familiar with Debian. My issue with Fedora is the lack of proper sandboxing, and it seems as though Qubes is the only one that really takes care in sandboxing apps.
Apologies if this is the wrong community for this question, I would be happy to move this post somewhere else. I've been anonymously viewing this community after the Rexodus, but this is my first time actually creating a post. Thank you!
UPDATE:
Thank you all so much for your feedback! The top recommended distro by far was SecureBlue, an atomic distro, so I will be trying that one. If that doesn't work, I may try other atomic distros such as Fedora Atomic or Fedora Silverblue (I may have made an error in my understanding of those two, please correct my if I did!). EndeavourOS was also highly recommended, so if I'm not a fan of atomic distros I will be using that. To @[email protected], your suggestion for Linux Mint Debian Edition with GNOME sounds like a dream, so I may use it as a secondary for my laptop. Thank you all again for your help and support, and I hope this helps someone else too!
Those are all great suggestions, thank you! Have you encountered any obvious issues or pitfalls that I should avoid?
Unless you've used Arch before or that you're a Linux power user (meaning you're not afraid of using a terminal and messing around with config files using a text editor), I would probably stay away from Endeavour OS. But if you don't mind messing around a bit and having to configure your stuff through the terminal, then I think it's a great option, especially for gaming. Endeavour isn't as bleeding edge in its software packages as the OG Arch so it's going to be more stable and less prone to bugs and hickups. Plus I found having the tools to set up stuff like NVidia graphics drivers and Steam and other game launcher alternatives pretty damn awesome. Plus, during the installation, if you select to get the online repos to install, you can pick which desktop environment to use, including Gnome.
POP! is so god damn simple. And upon first boot you get a bunch of dialogues to help you with setting up your gaming stuff including drivers. The app store has all the gaming stuff like Steam and other launchers right at the top. The default desktop is Gnome with a custom panel at the bottom. And it's all based on Ubuntu LTS, so it's stable, but it might lag behind in software versions. Everything just worked out of the box. I don't think you'd face any pitfalls here. And the Debian packaging system, as you probably know, is very similar to Fedora's.
Elementary OS had some hiccups on first boot. The default web browser is Gnome Web (AKA Epiphany) installed as a flatpak. For some reason on my VM, page renders were all blank white pages. I had to install the Flatseal flatpak to fix some graphical option with the Gnome Web flatpak permissions. But you can also get Firefox from the app store instead. There was another benign issue, but I can't remember what it was. The web browser problem was the main one. Then for installing graphical drivers, if you have an ATI card I think you're already pretty golden. With NVidia, you'll need to download and install the driver using NVidia's provided installer or add some PPA package repository. You can probably follow a tutorial like this one. As for steam, you can probably download and install it like any other package. I'd install Synaptic package manager to easily manage package installation, removal, etc. Yeah, this one is a bit more of a hassle, but the desktop experience LARGELY makes up for it. I really fell in love with this one.
Thank you very much for your detailed response! I'm comfortable pushing the boundaries of a normal operating system (I kind of have to, I'm a programmer, after all!) but I wouldn't consider myself a power user.