Ehh... Not really incredibly outdated? I mean most Linux systems with a few exceptions (looking at you Alpine) use gnu software in them, and it is a somewhat fair argument to say that a kernel isn't an entire operating system and other factors should be considered. Also why the quotation marks? It is a Linux joke, and if you don't like our humor than you can just kinda... Ignore it? I mean it's not like someone has you chained to a chair, forced to only look at linuxmemes.

I'm camping on the side of a lake at a state park with some family friends, which is very fun.

These asshats need to get the fuck out of our state.

Maine has a similar law too I believe.

I would personally go with the pixel line, as they just have the google spyware, and not 3 other companies spyware installed on top of Google spyware. Also they generally have decent security updates, and get them faster than most other brands, and then you have the option to switch to grapheneOS should you want too. They are also fairly affordable especially if you are getting them second hand.

Can is the key word here.

Ehhh, technically but its hard for them to tell if your able to switch back before turning it in. And if it doesn't boot then well... It's not going to be much of an issue then. Also it is a bit legally grey if companies can void you warrenty solely for installing a custom ROM.

Yeah those should work great.

Yeah proton works very well, in some rare cases running the games in question better than windows. Right now the main issue is games with super invasive kernel level anticheat, eg. Valorant, Siege, Fortnite, etc. So really mostly shooters.

I don't know about most...

Honestly I've found it to be surprisingly stable, and the only time the system broke, it was my own fault.

It is quite nice to be part of a smaller instance, especially this one, because there seems to be much less drama.