I've been programming with GNU/Linux since 2002
Noice! I think my first time using Linux (Ubuntu) was 8.04, which I think was back in 2012? I don't remember. Not as long as you though.
If you decide to install a Linux distro, may I suggest Fedora 34 or Mageia 8. Those two will hold your hand but allow you to control the machine without their helping hand. Is a sweet spot that few Linux distros a allow.
Oh hell yeah! Really? I always thought Ubuntu had a lot of control packed in. I will for sure look into both for my laptop, as I've been wanting to install a different OS on it for a while now. Have Ubuntu on it now, but wouldn't mind even more control.
I do. I use Fedora. I love it. It is easy to use and doesn't feel too different from Windows. I have a lot fewer privacy concerns or worries about viruses and stuff like that on here as well. You just have to get adjusted to using the terminal and codes to download things but you can easily look up stuff you want to do and the codes are provided for you by different sites.
Viruses was a big thing I had with Windows machines. I'll admit, I didn't go to the safest of websites back in the day, and I think that's why my PCs were so damn infected. Which is why I found interest in Linux, since you didn't have to worry so much about viruses. Of course there are still viruses and things that can attach to a Linux machine, but it's rare.
But yeah, I def want to try out Fedora one of these days.
I messed the family computer installing Corel Linux on it 25 years ago, when no one could install shit I was in the hot seat. Never touched Linux again.
Yikes. Yeah, these days they have a GUI that pretty much walks you through each step. But I have no idea how it was installing linux 25 years ago. I imagine there was a lot more to it.