IMO since time immemorial the hardest part of general computer use is getting from a blank disk to an operating system that’s fully functional, and Linux is better than Windows by a million miles and only second to Apple’s because Mac hardware is locked down.

Now, you will most definitely need to be familiar with the concept of commands, command line, files, and folders, but IMO it’s way easier than learning an interface, it’s universal [POSIX standard], and you’ll rarely need to use the terminal if you’re just doing basic desktop stuff.

As someone who switched to linux full time last summer after trying it over and over again every few years for the last few decades (ugh, I’m old), I can say that it’s WAY more user friendly and easy now. It used to be a hobby. Now it doesn’t have to be if you don’t want it to be. It can just be an “install it and forget about it” tool.

There are some distros that are more user-friendly than others. You can (and should) try them out via “live disk” before installing. I was going to use Mint, one of the most often recommended distros for Windows transplants, but it didn’t like my laptop and kept freezing, so I’m glad I tested it. For the record I ended up using Pop_OS! since it works great with laptops with hybrid nvidia graphics. Not my favorite of the distros I tried, but the most reliable on my hardware. Glad I tried a few.

And yeah, sounds like you have more than enough computer smarts to figure out any random issues that may crop up. I wouldn’t worry about it at all.

My limited skills: I taught myself SQL, once set up a Minecraft server, use vpns, comfortable in the ocean, can do basic VBA.

Yeah, you’ll be fine.

If I buy a new laptop would it be okay to just have Linux on it or I would I come into an eventual big problem?

There are some things to be aware of, but they’re mostly not big problems.

One is hardware support. This is rarely an issue these days when it comes to the routine tech most people use, but it can still rear its head with more exotic stuff like VR headsets (no support for Occulus; use Valve) as well as mundane but very new chips. For a newly released laptop it’s a good idea to check that the WiFi and Bluetooth chipsets on the model you want are supported before committing to a purchase, but they probably are.

If there are specific games you want to play, check if they work on Linux. Most games will these days; even Windows-only games will usually work with no more effort than switching on a compatibility setting in Steam. Some games do take a little fiddling though, and there are a few stragglers that just won’t work at all (mostly only if they have really paranoid anti-cheat systems).

Similarly, if there’s any specific software you need for your job or hobbies, make sure that there’s a Linux version, a compatible alternative that runs on Linux, or that the software runs acceptably through Wine. There’s usually a way to get what you need, but the quality may vary. Probably not an issue for you though or you’d have mentioned whatever specialty software you use when you asked the question.

Another small issue is that video streaming services often degrade your quality a little when you’re on Linux due to paranoia about piracy. So if you want to watch movies with absolutely perfect clarity, you may want to keep Windows or another device around for that (e.g. a smart tv, Android tablet, or what have you). That said, I personally do all my video consumption from Linux, and the quality is still high enough that I mostly don’t notice. I’m still on 1920x1080 screens though; I imagine this would be more frustrating on 4K. For a laptop, probably a non-issue.

On a related note, Blu-ray movies are encrypted. I don’t know if this is still an issue since I haven’t tried to watch one in years, but my experience was that watching Blu-ray is hit-and-miss. Basically the longer a given release has been out, the better the odds that somebody has found and published the key you need (which, if your system is set up right, can be automatically downloaded and applied so you don’t have to actually think about it). For a new release, you might have to switch to another OS, commercial video software, a physical Blu-ray player, or resort to “pirating” the content you already paid for. Of course, this is only relevant if you get a laptop that actually has an optical drive in the first place. Many don’t.