So after reading a number of posts and comments on here about Linux, I’ve decided to give 'er a go. I have access to an Azure VM, but I have never done anything involving Unix before and have only a basic understanding of coding in general.
Where do I even start? The most daunting thing for me is command line script, as it seems I have to memorize close to 150 common commands and their functions. Is there a set of tools or free classes that would make it easier for me to understand, or should I just get stuck in there? I was planning on using Pop!_OS since I do a lot of gaming and it seems like the closest thing Ubuntu has for that purpose.
I think you might be overthink this a tad too much, sure it can give you more problems the Windows but, in my 10 years of using it, most of the time it works fine. Pop is a decent starting place, with NVIDIA drivers being pre-installed if memory serves right, and it also has a graphical interface for installing and updating apps.
As for the terminal, it’s incredibly powerful and versatile, but you don’t need to learn and use it all at once, take small steps. Learn first the update command, the basics like cd (change directory), ls (list files and/or folders), cat (concatenate files and output to terminal), etc. Over time you’ll get the hang of the more advanced stuff.