The software I'll install on my laptop once I ditch macOS for Linux

Fast and stable operating system based on Arch Linux to replace macOS.

Or Xfce as the desktop environment to replace Aqua.
Some inspiration:

• https://github.com/Catvert/kde-plasma-chili
• https://akava-design.github.io/
• https://www.gnome-look.org/p/1099856/

Terminal emulator (+ Yakuake for quick commands) to replace the awesome iTerm2.
Other good alternatives: Alacritty, rxvt-unicode and ST - Simple Terminal.

File manager to replace Finder.
Other good alternatives: Thunar (if using Xfce) and PCMan File Manager.

The Markdown editor I'm already using on macOS.
Joplin and Mark Text also look great but I've never tested them so far.

System optimizer and monitoring.

For backups.
Also: Déjà Dup & TimeShift

Or Albert to replace Spotlight for launching apps.

Partition manager.

File archiver.

Main web browser with this theme to replace Google Chrome (Google…) and Safari.
As on macOS, I would use Ungoogled Chromium as my second web browser.
Other good alternatives: Midori, Min, Basilisk and uzbl.

Email client with Lightning Calendar, Enigmail and this theme to replace Apple Mail.

Peer to peer.

VPN.

Firewall application that monitors and controls outbound internet traffic.

Video player to replace IINA. Might also use VLC Media Player if I have issues with MPV.

For video conversion/transcoding.

For listening podcasts.
Also: CPod and podStation Podcast Player

Or zathura as a document viewer to replace Preview and Skim.

Or nomacs as an image viewer to replace Preview.
qView also looks interesting, so I'd have to take a look at it.

Screenshots.

For graphic design.
Also: Gravit Designer, Vectr, Alva & Akira

For vector graphics editing.

Video editing.
Also: Olive Video Editor & Kdenlive.

For managing fonts.

Coding.

FTP client.

Quick code editing.

For gaming.

For gaming.