I always thought that if I download Arch-based distro X, it will have the same hardware support as Arch-based distro Z, as long as they use the same kernel, but I have doubts about this because of recent experience with one specific laptop (LG Gram 17 2022 17Z90Q, Intel Core i5-1240P).
Using Manjaro KDE for all my computers, it was my obvious choice to install the same OS on new laptop as well. After installation I noticed that if I remove some pre-installed apps (like Timeshift, for example) along with their dependencies, system enters endless boot loop after restart. Re-installed it 4 times, result was always the same, so my idea was it’s Pamac problem ( Pamac incorrectly removes "unrequired" dependencies on fresh installation ). Then I realized endless boot happens every time I change any system setting, for example: remove unneeded dependency, change monitor resolution scaling, etc. The smallest system change + restart = non-booting OS. Every. Single. Time.
I the installed Endeavour OS. Everything worked fine, I could make any system changes as usual, OS will always boot.
Then I tried installing Reborn OS (both using LTS and 6.2 kernel) and couldn’t even do it. Once installer is launched, system freezes and screen starts flickering (tried 6 times just to be sure).
So my question is - how it comes every distro has different support for the same laptop, even if I used the same kernel (tried open source and proprietary drivers as well). I realize each distro might have different look + some different packages, etc, but does each distro actually use tweaked kernels and drivers? Otherwise, I have no idea why it happens.
P.S. I was going to give Manjaro another shot and trying to install kernel 6.2 (comes with 6.1 by default), but… to my surprise, Kernel Manager (GUI) does NOT list any other kernl version on that laptop. It only shows 6.1 as recommended and installed, and it’s the only entry in the list. Never experienced it with other computers.