[eatandwonder]

Good question. I'm aware there are distros with better laptop compatibility and more features, and that CentOS is a bit of an unconventional choice. Here is my reasoning, but I have very limited experienced with the nuts and bolts of Linux and I appreciate any feedback I can get:

I work professionally in IT and one reason I'm installing it is to better learn my way around Linux. RHEL is the most prominent distro in business so CentOS seems the place to start. There's no better way to learn than to keep burning my hand. :)

I did make sure I used a Thinkpad to maximize the chance of a successful, functional outcome with CentOS or any other distro or 'nix. AFAICT, Thinkpads are by far the most popular machines among the developers of the various 'nixes.

One advantage to CentOS, for me, is its stability. I don't want rapid upgrade cycles. I have no need for the latest and greatest; I'm not gaming; I don't even use Bluetooth. Vim and a web browser should work fine regardless of the distro.

[rev]

Is it your first foray into Unix? If so, it brings joy and a little tear to my eye to see such a properly motivated new user. Joy, as you hit all the right spots for being a good Unix user (Great Editor Holy War notwithstanding), and tear, well, because of systemd, intelligenti pauca. Maybe one day something like OpenBSD will find its way onto your machine. It works great on ThinkPads and doesn't even support Bluetooth!

[FRex]

That's a really nice line of thought. I'm no linux wizard but I've used Fedora for a few years for my laptop so if you want to ever ask about something basic we can exchange contact info.