So I am looking for a new distro for my x220 as it will be a base for work where my windows 7 laptop is virtualised I was thinking either Debian or Ubuntu (Ubuntu for ppa) but I want to keep the system open source as possible (not stalmanite level though)
What could you suggest? I don't want something like arch as I simply cannot be bothered with maintaining a work laptop and ideally I want to stick with .deb
Edit - also I need tools to correctly compile a patched kernel with gr sec
Either is fine, but I'd probably go with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS as it just came out, has the latest stuff, long term support, yadda yadda yadda. Just remove the Amazon spyware and you are fine.
You might want to take this opportunity to update the BIOS one last time before installing Linux. Also, do 30 minutes of memtesting and use something like Crystal Disk Info to verify that your memory and disk is OK.
Have fun. The x220 is pretty much the last good laptop Lenovo made. (well except for the BIOS whitelist bullshit)
What kind of work do you do? There are also specific flavored distributions of the one that MysteryAngel suggested. Like one that focuses on Audio, Graphic Design or Networking.
Well then really it doesn't matter what one you pick from the list above. They all are stable and fairly they all got equal cons and pros but all support remote access, but if you want .deb Mint and Ubuntu are your best pick.