I started using vim to learn rust. It’s awfully powerful and I fully understand the hype.
However when I started to program, vim was NOT a good option to learn. Because you have to learn how to code and how to use the coding tool at the same time. It can be too much to take in.
Your mint setup is fine to start learning, as others have said. Start with something simple : python, javascript, …
For programming, there are tools available on every OS. However I have found that those tools are easier to use on Linux. Okayish to use on MacOS. Programming with Windows, on the other hand is, well… it certainly is possible, but… see for yourself.
For instituitions it varies depending on each one of them. Usually they have their own tools because it is easier to organise a class if everyone works on the same IDE but if you get good enough it does Not matter what is your OS/IDE of choice. VSCodium is nice but anything like kwrite/kate/gedit/geany is good enough. Hell, even nano can get the job done.
sudo apt install qbittorrent