Going by my experience, the problem is something else at your end. Mind you, I don’t load it down with loads of extensions.

A free ride when they’ve already paid

True, but there’s a lot of stuff in the free software ecosystem that is just jank.

A lot of free software is built to scratch the authors itch. If you choose to use it as well, that’s on you. There’s nothing stopping you from forking it and making it work how you want it… except time.

Nvidia is actually as good as AMD now-a-days.

But RebbecaBlackOS still is.

I didn’t know it handled them (I’ve never used Discover) but yeah they’re not system packages so they will be OK too.

10 points to Gryffindor :)

with the GUI and toolset of Kubuntu

Not entirely, for example, Discover is only good for flatpaks in EndeavourOS.

Yeah. It’s KDE, there’s a setting for that.

Linux Journey will take you through the basics.

Well, boo-fucking-hoo

She is getting her masters in nursing online so it def needs to be able to accommodate that

Is there any specialist software she needs, or is it browser based?

Some are very different to each other, Arch and Debian where the former is at the bleeding edge of software and the later is the most conservative distro out there. Some are very similar, Ubuntu and Kubuntu where they are the same distro with a different desktop environment and default software.

I rarely see any references to MX in Linux forums

That could be a testament to it’s reliability.

If you’re a near absolute beginner then Linux Journey is a good place to start.

Good idea

First day on the Internet?

Just deselected it. It’s labelled as Expandable in English. Now my Dolphin set up is perfect! Thank you.

View -> Change View Mode and select Compact or Icons, but they will change how it’s laid out. I don’t know of any way that will keep the same layout.

Turns out there is a way. See another comment by @mmmm@sopuli.xyz .

The malicious packages were found and removed quite quickly. Also anyone who doesn’t blindly install from the AUR would have seen a suspicious .lol url. I suppose that a genuine package using a .lol url isn’t impossible, it’s just very unlikely,

These attacks do demonstrate the strength and weakness of the AUR, that anyone can upload anything at any time. The same as flathub and the snap store. Treat all of them with appropriate caution.

I’m sorry, but the process is exactly the same. Pick one you’ve been recommended, pick one you like the look of, or pick one at random to try it. With pretty much every distro having a live environment, you don’t need to install it to try it out. Hell, if you use distrosea, you don’t even need to download it to try it. It’s not rocket science, it’s just that people are conditioned to think there shouldn’t be choice in an operating system. I suppose it’s fairer to say it’s more like a car. See which ones you like the look of, try them out and make a decision.