observation: setting up a slackware install is initially more work, but afterwards it is nearly maintenance free. some recompiling of additional packages now and then, but it's not that much, even with -current.
the ubuntu installation i have is a raging dumpster fire in comparison.
@AmpBenzScientist locked down as in security? i'm not sure that a system with the complete freedesktop.org shebang can be secure. the stuff seems at least as brittle as windows, so many layers, so many dependencies. also, i like to understand what's happening on my system, i can't with most distributions as it's all magick happening all the time.