so ... which variety of linux is favored for amateur radio these days?

[NM5TF]

To be honest, I think Fedora is more "up to date" with their ham packages than Ubuntu/Debian, however, I could be mistaken. I just use Ubuntu because I've used Ubuntu for years at home. At work, I do the Redhat thing. There are a lot of people who swear by Fedora.

Worst case? If there's a missing package in the repos, you're just a "git clone; configure; make && make install" away from getting it, on any distro.

I agree with Corey....Fedora is more up to date than Ubuntu/Mint/.deb based distros, and not just the ham radio
stuff either.....

and there is a way to convert .deb files to .rpm files using the app Alien https://www.maketecheasier.com/convert-deb-files-rpm/

and if you're just dying to try the absolute bleeding-edge stuff, try out ARCH Linux....

[KC2UGV]

...

and if you're just dying to try the absolute bleeding-edge stuff, try out ARCH Linux....

I thought I covered Arch with the git clone; ./configure; make && make install :P

[n6hcm]

I agree with Corey....Fedora is more up to date than Ubuntu/Mint/.deb based distros, and not just the ham radio
stuff either.....

Fedora also ages out every six months and i have zero interest in that.