Debian is so old it doesn’t work on very modern hardware… So what your talking about?
Also Ubuntu is not a “server” option. They do have a server option yes. It is the most used desktop or at least was.
Also I used arch for ca 2 years not once needed to use a backup. Even though I abused the hell out of it.
Old kernel = old drivers. Its that simple… Things might work on a basic level sure. Drivers baked in to the kernel and when you use a damn old version of it you get old drivers and old hardware support.