I've got to get a Linux distro. I've been using Linux since early versions (should be said in somewhat amateurish way for the first 10 years), so ease of use isn't an issue but time/support is. My back is like an egg-timer for sitting down. In any other circumstances I'd run OpenBSD but it's still tier 3 for Rust, and that's a deal-breaker, unfortunately, because I very much like OpenBSD.

Chimera Linux looks very interesting because I'm a firm believer in keeping it as simple as possible. It's not there yet for Rust and I don't want to build Vim from source. My now over a decade old laptop (HP 2570p - with everything Spectre & meltdown patched/mitigated as much as possible - which knocked off a *lot* of performance - plus I fitted an SSD/maxed the memory) is quite tough/still working bar an x key I have to press extra hard and a few dents, which encouraged me to write tight code because I notice, very keenly, when it's not. I'm going to get a newer laptop, primarily because I'm getting bothered by switching virtual desktop because of screen space.

I have shortlisted the i3 window manager Fedora spin, Manjaro's i3 version, Arch Linux or Gentoo. Manjaro and Fedora are less arsing around. My 2570p with Manjaro uses about 300mb of memory once booted (nearly instantly) & logged into the window manager (although rapidly goes up to about 2.5gb once I launch a heavily tabbed web browser, three virtual desktops and two open terminals). Alpine Linux looks sexy/aligns with my objectives but I don't want to spend time mucking around with X/window manager configuration, like a flashback to the 00s.

I will probably blog about this. I have feelings about it. My 2570p may go to Valhalla (OpenBSD). I don't think Windows 11 is shit but it's like a car with the bonnet welded shut.