Another vote for Ubuntu here - though I tend to use the Ubuntu Mate version as the minimal version is slim enough to make a good platform for docker (or Node-RED) - and the desktop is lightweight enough and familiar enough not to cause brain hiccups when switching platforms. (and indeed there is a Mate version for Pi if you care for that).
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Thanks a lot again. To be honest I would go for Debian if it means it is more similar to what I am used to on the Pi. I found a good tutorial how to install Ubuntu on a NUC (Install Ubuntu Core on the IntelĀ® NUC | Ubuntu), but when I did a quick google on NUC and Debian I did not find similar page, only this which looks a bit too technical for me: InstallingDebianOn/Intel/NUC10i3FNK - Debian Wiki.
Also this article is about NUC10, and what I am looking to purchase is the new version 11 which could be better or worse.
Well, there is pretting much nothing to that guide. It basically seems to just say make sure you have the latest firmware installed and then install Ubuntu. 
Most of that is info and a lot only applies to running a desktop.
To be honest, it depends whether you want the local desktop - if you do, go for Ubuntu, if you don't then just install Debian and see if it works. If not, you can still try Ubuntu.
If Ubuntu "just works", it is very likely that Debian will "just work" as well. On the laptop everything just worked with only the sound output not being correctly configured and even that would have worked had I plugged in an HDMI cable - which I never bothered to do.
By the way, which ever OS you go for, don't accept the OS's version of Node.js - use the instructions on the node.js package manger page: Installing Node.js via package manager | Node.js (nodejs.org). It means that you can then update node.js the same way everything else gets updated (sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade for Debian/Ubuntu/Rasbian) without ever having to worry about what version except when you decide to move to the next major release and that is a simple switch over.
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OK, some good info here. The NUC will be definitely headless. Once I get the basics up and running it goes up to my IT cupboard above the fridge job done. Even with Ubuntu I was planning to go with the Core. I will open a new thread on this once I have the hardware and start playing with it.
Of course if you are going to use docker and run node-red in a docker container then for node-red development it doesn't matter that much which OS you are using as host OS.
In that context it is important to choose a host OS that is supporting all the hardware of your intel NUC that you want to use. CentOS (and I also guess ubuntu) is doing this pretty well.
FYI here below the instruction to install and configure CentOS as host OS on my intel NUC (which is named nuc-jan2) with docker. (I guess for ubuntu it will be the same or even simpler).
Although I am running it normally headless, I have chosen server with gui as sometimes I am connecting a monitor to it.
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I'm using an old 2Ghz laptop with a Docker on Ubuntu. It works great and very reliable. The benefit of this setup is the battery backup of the laptop which kept my system up and running even during power-outage.
On this docker im running
- Node-Red PROD
- Node-Red DEV
- Grafana
- InfluxDB
- MotionEye (motion alerts are going into Node-Red)
- PLEX (Playback status going into Node-Red)
All above is using about 60% of the Laptop capacity. I changed the HD to an SSD to increase performance as it was very HD intensive at beginnig.
