My home media server is an old nuc mini pc i5 16Gb RAM with attached usb storage running on a Linux distro, runs Jellyfin and a few other applications for the household.

In short yes, an old pc will work fine.

The only superior Linux distro and DE is the one that works for you and meets your needs.

This is different for each user and, frankly, the joy of Linux that it has such a variety as to be able to meet almost everyone’s needs.

For me , personally, thats Debian/Gnome with minimal tweaks but just because it works for my workflow does not make it superior.

Whilst I agree the technology is awesome, £2,000 for a phone, wow, no thanks.