I use evolution and it’s great even on kde

I use fedora and Ansible to fix things I want to be different all the time. After I install the OS I run Ansible pull and it makes all the changes I want

I use evolution and it works well for everything besides my work Gmail but that has more to do with security policies than evolution

All my configs are in gitlab or a self hosted forgejo server and all files are in seafile or a self hosted service running on proxmox. Then I use proxmox backup server on a storage VPS for off-site backup

Cockpit has an update manager built in and has the ability to setup dnf automatic

Veronica explains https://youtube.com/@veronicaexplains

Depends on budget but if your budget is above $800 get a framework they are awesome and work great with Linux if your budget is below that look at an e series Thinkpad or used thinkpad on eBay that fits your budget

Bullet seed hit 3 times