I’ll be installing Linux on a laptop this weekend so I can …

Ubuntu is great for beginners. “sudo” before a command runs it as admin. Remember to update your package repository. On Ubuntu this is “sudo apt update” if you want to install something search for it “apt search <program>” sometimes you must reload for changes to take effect. “sudo apt upgrade <program>” will search and apply version upgrades.

Which version?

Ubuntu or mint

I don’t know. Never used mint.

What have u used? And what for?

Redhat and centos for server.
Fedora and suse for playing around.