What about hetzner storeagebox? https://www.hetzner.com/de/storage/storage-box/ with client side encryption ? It’s cheap and reliable, supports all common file transfer methods - the encryption can and likely should anyway be done by your preferred backup tool?

mailbox.org is a treasure, signed up for mail but it’s so much more useful than that. It’s a true replacement for me of what Google and Microsoft offers additionally to mail.

Use Linux Mint Xfce or Xubuntu.

Regular Linux Mint might run OK, but you’ll get more performance with a more resource cautious Desktop Environment like XFCE.

Both can be booted in live mode too to do the file backup first, and then you can proceed with the installation.

I have a similar Notebook, which I’ve setup with Xubuntu as my DIY Chromebook. It’s not a Chromebook of any kind, but I put Vivaldi Browser on Autostart and mostly use it for browsing, works great and still runs apps fine if really needed.

Immich is such a cool piece of software 🤩

I like that you as user “regedit” are installing openSUSE - I like :-D