What a well thought out and accurate description of the grill, thanks for the write up!
One minor point; most releases are still based on Debian sid.
The ubuntu release was more of a response to 'ubuntu is so bloated' - maybe the main edition, but hand pick your packages and it's fine, that release makes it simple.
I've been running one of the older releases for over a year now and due to the grillmeister mixing his sauce to perfection (leaving out gtk3 helped) haven't had any hideous problems at all.
The forum is a top place too, packed with as many scripts and wise linux veterans as you can hope for.