Immutable distros like Silverblue or Bazzite are the only path I see that can work for normies. However flatpak itself has to mature more, theming anomalies need to be dealt with somehow for example.
Mint is only good to ease a technically inclined person into the linux world.
I don’t think it would be great for a pie hole on a gigabit connection. (if you have s slow connection then it’s good ofc)However there are use cases it’s good for. Print server, smb server, kitchen radio with Pyradio, retro gaming etc