[mdlug] New Machine OS/Window Manager Recommendation Please

[Peter Bart]

Hi All,
	I've just bought a refurb Panasonic Toughbook and am looking
	for recommendations. I currently use a CF-19 core 2 duo U9300
	1.2Ghz w/GPS, Bluetooth, wifi and 4gb ram, and have since 2011
	with Linux Mint installed. My new to me machine is a CF-19
	i5-3340M 2.70GHz with TPM 1.2, 16gb ram, dual pass wifi,
	bluetooth, GPS. 

	I'm in the fortunate place to be able to use my existing
	machine as I set up my new machine. That does not mean I have
	unlimited time, I have neglected my old machine and as a result
	am not able to easily update software and am slowly losing
	functionality. I have never been able to easily use the package
	manager to update, bluetooth has never worked, and the
	touchpad has only basic functionality no scrolling etc. It is
	however an essential machine I use in day to day business.

	I have experience using openSUSE, Ubuntu and of course Mint. To
	a lesser degree other distro's live CD such as Knoppix and
	Gparted. I currently use Gnome, but have experimented with xfce.
	I don't care for KDE, likewise all the eyecandy in Gnome. 

	I have allways manually partitioned my installs, and would like
	to finally start using LVM. I would like to encrypt as much of
	the drive as is possible, and this machine will be my first
	with TPM. I'm thinking of going back to openSUSE stable; not so
	much Tumbleweed; and use xfce or Mate instead Gnome. Not that
	I'm unhappy with Mint, my plan is to wipe my current machine
	and install a current version of Mint, Debian or derivative
	once my new machine has been set up. When I got my current
	machine TPM was just starting to show up and I do not have any
	experience with it. Is it evil or good? Is LVM still a good
	option instead of ???. Are there any gotchas I need to be aware
	of? Since getting my first Toughbook I have been spoiled by not
	having to buy a new machine every year or two, of course this
	means I have not installed an operating system in those years.
	Any comments, suggestions, etc are welcome!
-- 
Peter Bart
<peterbart.ch at gmail.com>