It looks like someone already stuffed it with insulation.
Assuming this is in an unseen location, you don't have to get fancy. You could put a square of plywood over the hole, screw it into place, then caulk the edges. That should cut down on drafts and keep creepy crawlies out.
I'm a big Ubuntu fan and it's derivatives. PopOS is pretty snazzy, but it doesn't have grub which can be a little weird.
Currently I'm running KDE Neon. I used to be a hard core gnome guy, but I've been seduced by all the performance gains KDE has. I just customized it to look like gnome (it's infinitely customizable).
But if you want to stick to RPM land, check out OpenSUSE.
The other suggestion I'd have would be Manjaro which is arch based.
I have never heard of running SMB through a reverse proxy, and I don't think it's a good idea. Just use a vpn to your network with a direct connection, or better yet deploy a nextcloud instance and use that.
Yea I've talked to their support about this. It's not happening any time soon. For some reason all VFX packages target Cent and are not moving to Rocky, big bummer.
What current games don't run smooth? It's handled everything I've thrown at it. And it definitely will have a longer life than the Nintendo switch because it's a PC, there are no generational limits on what it can play.
Especially if you're a gamer that loves indies and lofi games like Subnautica, Vailheim, or pixel art games like Children of Morta, Hyperlight Drifter, Moonlighter and the like.
The steam deck will be functional long after the PS5s of this world are collecting dust in a closet.
Check this out - https://www.theverge.com/23568679/steam-deck-jsaux-transparent-backplate-hands-on