as much as i hate to admit it i do run arch linux with niri as my compositor of choice.
i used void linux in the past however i was NOT ready for something just as minimal and complicated (if not more minimal) than arch with WAY less documentation that assumes you know way more than i did back then. i do fw their logo and homepage design tho.
once i get comfortable enough with arch i do think that the endgame of linux distros is nixOS
and my first distro like a lot of ppl was linux mint. its an alright starting linux distro until you realise how flawed the windows workflow is and how much better it would be with something like a scrolling or tiling window managers + a lot of console. (the reason i think mint fails at this is just the arch docs are SO good and focused on ppl like this, while linux mint has to accomodate both, so i just feel like arch is the most beginner-friendly well documented advanced distro (if that makes any sense).
im not one of those ppl who spends wayy too much time ricing though, but im not one of those to enjoy everything being pre built and premade.
however imo it is a necessity to dual boot with windows as while the state of gaming on linux is actually pretty favorable, comparatively there is absolutely NO progress for music production to move to linux.