My point is that Ubuntu's main job is and always has been as a package curator on top of Debian. If you are a long-time Linux user then you should not have a p

My point is that Ubuntu's main job is and always has been as a package curator on top of Debian. If you are a long-time Linux user then you should not have a problem using apt-get or synaptic, or installing xubuntu-desktop or whatever you want. You should also be familiar with the concept that some hardware does not come with good Linux drivers. Ho hum. Any popular linux distro lets you choose your desktop and almost everything else, the main reason to choose one distro over another is your faith in their package curation