> I currently endorse Mint as a paddling pool for new GNU/Linux users
I would go against this suggestion, for two reasons: one, the Mint project develops a lot of software that never gets sent upstream, so it is effectively Mint-exclusive, which means Mint users who are used to this software will have a harder time migrating to another distro. Two, Mint doesn't even provide a mechanism to allow users to choose only libre software; everything, libre or proprietary, is shoved in a single repository. Worse, much of this proprietary software is installed by default even when it isn't necessary.
Despite the Unity problem, I think Ubuntu is still a better choice for an intermediate system to recommend to someone. Canonical at least conscientiously separates libre software (in them "main" and "universe" repositories) from proprietary software (in the "restricted" and "multiverse" repositories).
