Pop OS [1] does something similar. Based on Ubuntu, but replaces snap with flatpak. You can apt-get packages like chromium from their PPA [2].

I'm very pleased with their developer centric approach. They also apply very nice UI tweaks, a tiling WM and a useful set of gnome extensions. Loving it.

[1] https://pop.system76.com/

[2] https://launchpad.net/~system76/+archive/ubuntu/pop/