I wrote the above article, and I wrote this, too:
https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/11/raspberry_pi_desktop_...
RasPi Desktop is the x86 version of Raspbian. It's exceptionally lightweight, uses just 200MB of RAM at idle, and yet it's just Debian and will run any Debian tool or app.
It uses about 1/3 to 1/4 of the RAM of any Ubuntu flavour, and I've tested them all and published the results:
https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/18/ubuntu_remixes/
Some Redditor did the same for Debian with comparable results:
https://www.reddit.com/r/debian/comments/qmbizl/real_measure...
Raspbian PC's usage is lighter than stock Debian + LXDE, and it comes nicely preconfigured.
It's easier than Debian, smaller, and uses less resources. What's not to like?