I think I started with Mint 13. After hopping around for years I'm now on Debian.
I recommend Mint to people in general. It's perfect for most people. We shouldn't be required to learn about everything in the world.
I don't expect anyone to become a mechanic just because they need a car. If that were a requirement then most people would just not get a car. It's also okay to continue driving and never becoming a mechanic later.
This is probably older than a lot of the folks here on Lemmy