[bubblethink]

The trick with linux is being selective when you buy hardware. Getting things to work the first time is hit or miss, but once they work, they tend to continue to work without too many surprises. For laptops, that means thinkpads.

[Lvl999Noob]

The dock and monitors aren't mine actually. I got them from work. The work laptop runs windows 11 so the hardware is only tested for windows. I will buy my own stuff when I have to return these and then I will make sure it all works with linux.

What distro / wm / de is good with external monitors, in your opinion? After going through some of the comments on some threads, it feels like external displays are a common pain point across all linux systems.

[bubblethink]

Yes, external displays can break in weird ways. I remember that a common annoyance used to be that windows and applications don't go back to where you left them before suspending. There are likely other paper cuts as well in areas of variable refresh rates, colour management, etc. I think the biggest issue with external displays, screen tearing, is solved now due to wayland. As for hw and distros, stick to intel or amd igpus, especially in laptops. Both gnome and kde are pretty good these days. Ubuntu and Fedora are both quite good. Distros aren't that different anymore these days. The differences boil down to release cadence mostly.