I wholeheartedly disagree with this. When I recommend say mint, I always talk about the variety of other linux desktops and about open source software. I also tell people that mint is a good start if you want to use less proprietary software, but I also tell people that there is much more to linux. If they want to stick with mint, thats their choice and fine.
However: what I disagree the most with is recommending Arch (or the likes) to a new user. Arch is not just fundamentally different than windows (just like the rest of linux) it also does not help the user at all and RTFM-elitists are just gonna scare people off.
Mint is a perfect gateway drug into linux FULLSTOP.
Exhibit a: me. I started on mint back in the day. Went to other ubuntu based distros and ended up using Arch as a daily driver. This post is a bullshit take written by a gatekeeper that fears to be less special when common users start using linux. (At least thats my hot take)