Well from what you’re saying I’d go for something like EndeavourOS.

Based on arch, usable out of the box but without much preinstalled so that you can do your own mix. Manjaro is a bit similar but with more preinstalled (and maybe more bugs from what I read).

Most performance optimisation can be done through improving algorithms and data structures, and knowing well the language you’re using.

I don’t think I’ve encountered any performance issue that wasn’t either:

• Unavoidable because of what I’m doing
• Coming from an inefficient data structure or algorithm
• Coming from a bad use or pitfall of the language.

Of course there are specific cases such as low-power environments and such, but that’s not what most people talk about when they talk about performance.

I also would like to point out my confusion with the obsession towards performance when it’s not needed (such as “is languageA 10% faster than languageB?”) but then everyone putting web technologies everywhere, from games to desktop software. It’s starting to feel like performance is more of a cult than a pragmatic question at this point.