Can someone point me to a helpful beginners resource explaining some Linux basics? Like what is the difference between “distro”, which is what, like Ubuntu, fedora, Debian (? Or is that a category of distro?) And desktop environment which is what, KDE, Lubuntu, gnome? Like I don’t even know I have these categories right let alone understand why I’d pick one over another and what practical effects it will have- which apps will I/won’t I be able to install, etc…
I’m not expecting anyone to answer these questions for me, but if you could point me to something already written, I’d appreciate it.
On top of all the other informative comments answering a plethora of questions you understandably have when entering the Linux ecosystem, I want to express: don’t feel like you need to learn all this stuff if it doesn’t interest you, or otherwise turns you off the idea of Linux.
It’s perfectly fine to ignore all the terminology, install whatever new-user friendly version of Linux you can, and just start using it. If it’s not to your taste, or it asks too much of you, maybe try a different one. But I’m of the firm belief that immediately inundating a new user with a bunch of new vocab and unfamiliar workflows is the mark of a bad new user experience, and you shouldn’t feel required to put up with that.
The fact is, unlike MSFT who has a bunch of terminology internal to the windows dev teams, Linux is developed in the open, so all the terminology leaks into the user world too. And you just need to get good at saying, “if this doesn’t help me use my PC better for what I need it to do, I don’t care”.