temptest [any]

One of the top-rated replies so far is an Asian who expresses they are offended, so that can’t be right.

What power and control does this even give someone?

I, for one, haven’t had to look at laptop manufacturers for nearly a decade because my Thinkpad is still running Linux without a problem.

Aside from political reasons (which are valid!), what makes those manufacturers worth choosing over a Thinkpad?

I don’t know how much bloat Mint adds

Not enough to make me think about it, it’s not like I’m running a server or fighting for storage space. But if the thought of Flatpaks is enough to frighten, then it could be a problem.

Maybe so. For me it was that even Sid was too outdated for me (e.g. with native Linux games and some software development), and to try and Frankenstein it into what I wanted was effort and instability I didn’t want, especially when some Ubuntu-derivatives were much better suited for my personal-use situation.

Is ChromeOS a distro? (obvious reasons)

I can’t really think of another one I don’t like. I had a bad time on Debian but that is because my use case conflicted with it, not because it’s bad.

How is anyone supposed to have an unbiased opinion?

What features of Manjaro would make it something you prefer? A different DE? Mint offers more than just one.