First, thanks for reading and commenting.
I would appreciate any\all feedback from all of you, if there are recommendations for a stable, consistent setup - both hardware and OS. Or comments that I am asking for something unrealistic. Either a desktop or a laptop connected to a docking station.
a. I would like to suspend the machine at night and continue working in the morning.
b. To be able to support three monitors.
c. VM app to test stuff - virt network to test varied apps\code on different clients and servers.
d. Libre Office to create docs and presentations.
e. LTS.
Currently using a System 76 laptop w\ Pop OS and a docking station. The first laptop was warrantied to poor construction (keyboard and bezel weren't flush, they separated and you could see the motherboard...) and now the second one is having the same issue - let alone sporadically working with suspend or the docking station (will have to reconnect the docking station, most times rebooting).
I've distro hopped for years, so I would consider myself a beginner\intermediate user. I am more than willing to pay\donate for consistency, and right now that leans towards MS and Windows (sigh).
What are corporate users using? I think that is my standard, as I've worked at places that were primarily windows shops, And it is pretty easy to come in in the morning and resume from yesterday. "RH for workstations" ?
Thank you!!
nixos is great - as long as the software you need is in nixpkgs, and it usually is. reinstallation is almost never necessary. You can switch your system to the unstable channel, and if you get tired of that, back to stable again, no problem. Experiment with software and remove it without a trace left in your system. If you mess up your config, you can roll back to the previous config in the bootup menu. Your system config is in a text file which you can put into source control if you wish, which allows you to replicate your config onto another machine, or revert to what you had 6 months ago, etc.
Thank you for the rec. I will have to try nix when i get some time.