@codewiz could I suggest investigating endeavorOS? I've found it to be solid Ubuntu replacement for my less than technical friends and family, but still allowed them to have upstream and updated packages.
@captdust Thanks, I'll give it a try next time: the Manjaro ISO is still downloading, and today I'm running out of time for distro tourism
Back in August, I tried #PopOS and I was surprised by the polished UX they have built on top of the declining Ubuntu.