Not a total linux noob, plenty of experience using them for servers @ work. Less experience with using them with GUIs and for other computing use.
I’ve got an intel nuc i3 that I use as a media pc. It doesn’t do (or need to do) more than allow me to browse files and play videos (mkv, mp4, just the usual fare). I don’t really need or want something like Kodi. I just have the stuff I want to play on my NAS and smb or nfs mount to get at it. Specs aren’t great, but it doesn’t need to run 4k, so it’s been fine. Perhaps I use clementine once in a blue moon to play a few mp3s when hosting a party or dinner. (And I toy around with the IR reader of the nuc so I can make my own media buttons on a programmable remote, but that’s not super important.)
That’s pretty much it.
Currently I run Ubuntu on it, but it takes so long to boot. What are your distro recommendations? Not afraid to tinker, I doubt I’ll ever become an Archlinux user.
Use Bazzite. It’s unbreakable and comes with lots of easy installable packages. And I say that as a looong-time Debian fan.
But a minimum of 8Gb RAM for a simple media PC seems pretty high. I don’t want bloat – or an OS that requires a discrete GPU. This seems like a good choice for a gaming setup, not a low-spec media file player.