Mint removes everything that makes Ubuntu bad and they have a version with the same features but Debian based and because Ubuntu is pushing snaps so much they have been thinking of making LMDE (Linux Mint Debian edition) the new default
Yeah true. I went through the arch process to learn about Linux though so it was worth it in the end but I still have no clue about selinux, apparmor etc that are shipped by default in other distros. Also the need for firewalls/antivirus which isn't really an issue in Linux but still.