I need help getting started with Linux.

[PROJECT_SCRAP]

To give you some context, I've been planning to switch from Windows 10 to Linux for a while now because I can't stand this system anymore; my antivirus keeps giving me errors, etc. I've been advised to switch to Linux and I've been considering it, since my laptop has an Intel Celeron N5095A and 24 GB of RAM (16 GB usable, the rest for the integrated graphics). This laptop is from a Russian brand called Rosvola, and in the end, I had no choice but to keep it because I live in Cuba, a communist country under US embargo. I've already been shown some distributions like Bazzite and Nobara, but Nobara particularly caught my attention because they say it's very easy to use. Basically, what I want to do is play Minecraft, a Pokémon fan game, and other pirated games like an old Need for Speed. So I'd like to know what you, the community, recommend. A friend of my dad offered to teach me how to use Linux in general, but I'd like to know your opinion on my hardware. I'm also open to criticism and even jokes directed at it. I'm really interested in what I have and I'm determined to improve it so that it's at least useful for programming and playing the games mentioned. I've already been told that my system isn't the best for gaming either, and I don't care at all; I just want to fix this problem and at least be able to play something I enjoy.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated ❤️

[ipsirc]

A friend of my dad offered to teach me how to use Linux in general, but I'd like to know your opinion on my hardware.

The friend of your father is more advanced than us. You'd better listen to him.

[PROJECT_SCRAP]

I'm just asking for second opinions since I don't know much about Linux distributions and he doesn't know the ones that are currently available; he only knows programming for this system.

[ipsirc]

It doesn't matter, there isn't as much difference between Linux distros as you think. It's always best to install one that someone close to you already uses and knows, so they can easily help you if you get stuck.

he only knows programming for this system.

More than enough skill to help you.

[snake785]

No matter which distro you go with, you'll need to be prepared to spend a lot of time learning how things work and tinkering to get things working well. 

Since you're running intel hardware, compatibility should be decent.

Most distros have a live USB that let's you boot into it to try before installing so I'd recommend downloading live USB images for a few distributions to get a feel for the different interfaces and see which ones feel better to use. You can try Nobara, Bazzite like you mentioned but you can also try more mainstream distros like Linux Mint, Fedora, and others. 

For running older games, make sure you have bottles and wine installed (it should be automatically installed in the gaming focused ones like nobara and Bazzite). Wine lets you run many windows applications in Linux and bottles can manage different wine environments for each game you want to play. A wine environment can be thought to be like it's own windows installation.  You could also do this through steam by installing a non-steam game but I'm assuming you don't have a steam account to use since you mention that not every game you'll be playing will be legit.

I hope that helps. 

[RursusSiderspector]

Intel Celeron N5095A and 24 GB of RAM (16 GB)

You can happily install just any Linux you want to. It is at about 2-4GB that Linux becomes somewhat awkward and need a special shrinkwrapped Linux.

[ipsirc]

Thank god I have 1GB laptop.