Non-technical readers? In my Linux memes community??

You probably know this, but Mint is kind of just Debian with extra stuff (some might call it bloat, but that’s a matter of use case). So a switch to Debian from Mint should be very straightforward, if not seamless. The package manager is the same, and that’s usually the biggest part of switching distros. Debian is also ideal for hosting specifically; many, many production servers run on Debian. It’s also arguably the best-supported distro out there, so whatever question you have had probably already been answered.

TL;DR you should totally try Debian out (especially a headless version). It mostly like won’t be an issue.

Yeah, Gentoo is really tough to use if you’re not somewhat familiar with Linux, it’s ins and outs, and its general ecosystem. Even the handbook assumes a lot of knowledge. But when you get it operating… boy is it rewarding. It’s like difficult hike—you’re wrung out, but you’re stronger from it in the long-run, and the view is amazing.

You know, I’d recommend starting with Arch, actually. It’s got challenges of its own, but a manual Arch install can help familiarize yourself with the Linux install process in general, and can help ease you into the Linux-from-Scratch-with-training-wheels that is Gentoo. And the documentation (ArchWiki) is famous for how helpful and informative it is. It’s definitely better than the Gentoo Handbook on that front!

It’s not gentoo late, bro!