I'll probably go with Debian as usual. I like a light desktop, openbox usually. This has some power so maybe I'll break tradition, use something heavy like xfce 🤣
Discussion
Linux Mint has a rolling distribution of Debian which is nice as you never have to do a formal upgrade.
"What is LMDE?
LMDE is a Linux Mint project which stands for "Linux Mint Debian Edition".
Its goal is to ensure Linux Mint can continue to deliver the same user experience if Ubuntu was ever to disappear. It allows us to assess how much we depend on Ubuntu and how much work would be involved in such an event. LMDE is also one of our development targets, as such it guarantees the software we develop is compatible outside of Ubuntu."
Does LMDE have the equivalent of the Debian mini.iso? I like just installing what I need, saves time removing cruft later.
Check the link.
https://linuxmint.com/download_lmde.php
It looks like 2.5 gigs. The Debian mini is a very good product of you are limited in Band Width.
I will also not the the Linux Mint XFCE is very fast and good and there are plenty of drivers, encoders and software choices. The Debian one and Debian itself have a tendency to be restrictive so if you are doing video production you might go for the Linux Mint XFCE.
I bought a very new laptop last year and at first sound didn't work with the Mate version but within a month a new kernel fixed this.
Anyway, you know what you are doing and what you need. The good news is most .dmg packages work because Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu based on Debian. Make sure you get as much RAM as possible for video compression.