The best GNU+Linux distributions, in my opinion. In order from the best to worst

Last updated - 30th May 2023

1. Gentoo
   
   + Great package manager
   + Ability to fully configure the system to your likings
   - Long compile times, especially on older hardware
   My main distribution for the last 1.5 years Switched to arch, see arch
2. Fedora
   
   + Works really great out of the box
   + One of the best supported/maintained distributions
3. Arch
   
   I USE ARCH BTW
   My main distribution from February 2023
   + Has similar philosophy to Gentoo - you configure your system from the ground-up
   + AUR
   + Doesn't get in your way™

   I switched to arch because of it's simplicity relative to Gentoo. I realized that I don't really need all the flexibility that Gentoo provides. There was no profit from building all packages for myself. All I got was a heated laptop and wasted CPU cycles. Arch still has AUR, where you can find -git versions of most packages. Writing your own PKGBUILD file is also fairly easy. I haven't found myself writing PKGBUILD files by hand yet, though.

4. Debian testing
   
   + The debian we love and hate, but with more up-to-date packages
5. Ubuntu / Kubuntu
   
   + Works out of the box
   + Very popular ( someone has probably already solved the problem you have )
   - Forced adoption of snaps