I used Ubuntu in my college for some light programming and felt really happy about it.
I am more interested in switching to Debian 12 than Ubuntu, since the former is really stable. Also, I came to know installing Debian is easier since it supports non free firmware.
I would suggest Linux Mint instead, or using Flatpaks to update apps.
Now it’s new, so you’ll have less problems, but in two years, the situation might be different.
Do stable, use Flatpaks for anything you need to be newer. It works well.
I love Debian! It is a project which provides a lot for the OpenSource and Linux community.
And yes, it is the most stable Linux you can have.
Personally I would suggest to start with a distribution with more actual packages like Fedora, Manjaro or even Arch.
Shouldn’t be an issue. I see people recommending other distros but it doesn’t sound like you are asking about that at all.
It also sounds like you understand the catch with Debian: older packages stick around for a bit. But, you can go to Testing or Sid.
