I use Debian flavors for my daily drivers. I have no complaints, no real desire to switch it up on that front.
However, I am starting to get into self-hosting and homelab projects. I’d like to start test driving some light-weight distros of a different flavor.
I’d prefer a GUI be available, but the environment and WM is pretty inconsequential-- except it shouldn’t be bloated. I’ll install any additional apps I want, I don’t need a curated mid-to-heavy-weight distro.
The plan is to make heavy use of Docker images, to try to maintain a clean and modular setup of services. If that makes any difference.
Suggestions? Any slim distros you’re just gaga for?
If you’re willing to forgo the GUI installer requirement, take a look at Void Linux. Pretty slim base installation, very stable and conservative package updates for a rolling release. Excelllent package manager. Downside might be smaller package selection than Debian or Arch.