+1 Ending up using Trisquel GNU/Linux took over 20 years of two steps forward one step, one step back progress for me and I still falter at times. A suitable fully free system wasn't available for much of that time and isn't always now. So e.g. I still have to use Debian for ARM based Maker projects (BeagleBone Black).
If you were go away with one thing I would say:
Learn to maximise your software freedom.
