I would recommend slackware or devuan with xfce or lxde

fvwm :)

I don’t hate it, but as a PC/phone user it’s security features are almost never helpful and always cause issues so I just have it disabled.

i mean its pretty good if you get used to it… i remember the shortcuts for all the major tools i use and it’s very quick and easy to use for me.

Yeah sure but they do force snap for some packages (while making it look like apt running) and it isn’t ideal. I don’t see any reason to use ubuntu over debian unless I’m some corporation that needs to run the same version for 10 years with their subscription.

#1. The distro matters, but not much tbh. The main difference is usually the package manager being used, the default DE/WM, init system (sysvinit/systemd/openrc), and the variant of packages they ship. #2. Avoid Ubuntu if so. #3. I recommend Debian stable. #4. Can’t say much about HDR, multiple monitors are probably fine. (different refresh rate and such can be a hassle to configure tho) #5. Yes KDE is a good choice.

+Photoshop/VS probably runs in WINE but I’m not sure. You might need VM.