Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking. Login or Take a Tour!
I can't really address the first conflict considering I have never worked with a thinkpad, but I can answer the second. Since Linux is open software, the stack exchange/community database is constantly being updated with questions, and honestly in the beginning just learning how to really fully navigate the terminal and do commands should be a healthy enough challenge for you to later get started with actual programming. Also, concerning distros besides the main 3-4, look into elementaryOS I have really been diggin the feel of it in my laptop, but on my desktop I mainly use either Debian or mint. Hope you like Linux, because I really can't go back after I claimed full ownership of my own devices, lol :)