Thanks for the appreciation post and I agree, 4.18 is very good. I started using Linux around 1997/1998 (RedHat 5.0, Dec 1997)…so, I am also old… While I played around with different window managers, I started using WindowMaker very early on and loved the layout and feel of the NextStep interface.
SIDENOTE: I wasn’t even sure if WindowMaker existed still but it apparently just had a new release earlier this month (https://www.windowmaker.org/).
I had switched to Debian in about 2000/2001 after fighting my last bout with RPM hell and in about 2005 I switched to XFCE and setup the side panels in a similar fashion to my WindowMaker layout (sidepanel with widgets, right click menu for everything else). While I have moved my widgets to a top left panel, XFCE has remained my DE for almost 20 years. I keep moving my home folder with each hard drive and desktop change with no real issues. The days are gone when I am interested in resolving issues or trying the next shiny feature. I just want a computer that works when I need to use it. I really appreciate the XFCE team for all their work. I have put in the occasional bug report and the response and engagement from the dev team has been pleasant. I have high hopes that the team continues to value the responsive and clean interface of XFCE while making the needed QoL improvements.
Devuan (Debian without systemd), stable (Daedalus) with backports. Been running Debian since 2000, Devuan since 2018. I am at a point where I just want consistency and familiarity in my setup.
Edit: as far as cool new things, I have moved to pipewire for audio and leveraging a selfhosted nextcloud for web based file storage. For a personal setup (limited users) I just installed Nextcloud office which is basically Libreoffice in a browser like Google docs. I am also using mythtv with an hdhomerun for broadcast tv. None of this is really “new” but new to me. The setup of these functions has been fairly straightforward for me and I appreciate all the work these projects have put to make the setup and maintenance fairly painless.