One more tip, if you already have a Windows environment, spin up VMs with Hyper-V and start from there. Anytime you mess up, just nuke the VM and spin up another one. I must have burnt through hundreds of VMs (hyperbole) while testing out distros that I like.

Another vote for LFS. I like that it is really at the right level of depth (assuming that you already have a basic grasp of computing in general). Even if you end up going with a distro, reading through LFS gave me insights as to why certain things were done in certain ways. Alot of "quick-start" style guides tell you what command to type in, but for brevity reasons, they don't explain what the command does. For example, you may come across many guides tell you to type sudo or sed or echo or | or >>. It may seem daunting at first, but gradually as you become more at ease with the CLI, all these will start to make sense.

At my previous job in a Fortune 500, circumventing the IT security policy is ground for instant dismissal. Like literally marched right out of the office kind of dismissal. We had an IT breach before and it cost the company US$300m to fix, and IT security was locked down HARD after. At best, OP is not wise.

Seconded, this looks like it was written by a high school edgelord that just got into linux, and has zero understanding of how corporate systems are actually built, and how diverse the IT landscape is.

Indeed. There's just no positives to be taken from getting involved with Iran. They chose their own destiny after the whole Iran hostage situation, there's no coming back from that.

I am no expert in geopolitics, but didn't they get exactly what they wanted? Carter out of office, the Shah deposed, the US humiliated, and religious fundamentalism as a preferred way of life.

Happy to be corrected by someone more knowledgeable than I am.