Stan, are you talking about replacing Raspbian with one of the ARM solutions from the others?
and....
Although Debian produces a distribution for the arm architecture, it is compatible only with versions later than the one used on the Raspberry Pi (ARMv7-A CPUs and higher vs the Raspberry Pi's ARMv6 CPU).
Yes, there are many... but the Gnome DE it not typically specified among the choices. It seems that it is still possible to use Gnome with some of the many options that are available, but again, how well it may work on a Pi is still somewhat questionable to me. And as you noted, the ARM version makes a difference, as well as
which version of the Pi.
Again, my direct answer to
@Peer's question, is that it may be possible to install Gnome in the typical Raspian distribution, but I'm not certain that it can be done, or if so, how difficult it may be or what problems may be encountered. I'm a new Pi owner myself with the Pi 3 B+ purchased earlier this year, so my experiences are very limited. But deviating from the OP, I've looked at some possibilities to install Gnome on Pi in other ways, assuming that a Gnome desktop is the desired outcome.
One common method of getting Raspian or other OS'es up and running is to use the
NOOBS (New Out Of Box Software) installation manager. This includes (or used to include) a choice to install Arch Linux for Pi. I think that the third party OS options change frequently though, so Arch may no longer be there, but Arch still can be installed regardless. As I understand the NOOBS manager, Raspian is the only one that is actually included... all the others will need an internet connection and will be downloaded and installed on demand.... this process will be much slower than installing Raspian.
Specific Google searching for which Pi version and which OS is really needed. But some of my generic searching found these below for some various possibilities. Each may or may not provide specific installation instructions, but the overview they offer may help in understanding the Pi installation process overall.
Arch:
https://www.unixmen.com/install-arch-linux-raspberry-pi/
https://ladvien.com/installing-arch-linux-raspberry-pi-zero-w/
https://elinux.org/ArchLinux_Install_Guide
https://www.novaspirit.com/2017/04/25/installing-arch-linux-raspberry-pi/
Fedora:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Architectures/ARM/Raspberry_Pi
https://opensource.com/article/17/3/how-install-fedora-on-raspberry-pi (a bit outdated)
http://pidora.ca/
http://fedberry.org/
openSUSE
Pi:
https://en.opensuse.org/HCL:Raspberry_Pi
Pi 2:
https://en.opensuse.org/HCL:Raspberry_Pi2
Pi 3:
https://en.opensuse.org/HCL:Raspberry_Pi3
and
https://www.suse.com/c/opensuse-raspberry-pi-3-zero-functional-system-easy-steps/
I hope that Santa brings you one of these neat little toys, Wizard. I find the standard Raspian distro (with
PIXEL desktop) to be very fast and responsive, but I don't think it will be a multi-multi-OS machine for you, though you may well prove me wrong!
Also note that the video output is HDMI only, so you'll need a HDMI capable monitor or TV (not sure if adapters are available, or if they might work).
Once set up properly with a wireless network, you can use a smartphone or a tablet to make a "remote desktop" connection to the Pi. This lets the phone or tablet become your mouse, keyboard, and monitor. A very handy trick! Of course a tablet is more comfortable to use.
@Peer, if I can squeeze in some testing time, I will see if I can install Gnome on my Pi and report back. I'm not a Gnome fan, but it's an interesting question!
Cheers