I found this to be an interesting article on what happened to the data he released to media. Some history of how MSM suddenly dropped the hot potato after a point which I do wonder would be in part why it went out of mainstream consciousness so fast.
https://libroot.org/posts/what-happened-to-the-snowden-archive
Learn basic desktop Linux? Mint. Learn how Linux works and really interested in more of the ins and outs? Arch (Artix if you want systemdless) Learn how Linux works in great depth and are very committed? Gentoo.
I’ve been on Arch or Arch based systems for 13+ years now. It used to be an incredibly annoying joke. I mostly saw it used to mock Arch users. But since Arch is more accepted now it seems to have morphed into a (mostly) funny meme. I never ever said it until this year though lol.
Shit, guess I need to switch to an even more niche distro so I can sit on a high horse and feel smug about being a unique and special edgelord. Internet memes are for peasants!