[jarlold]

I suggest you just go all out and install bare-bones (no DE) Debian and set it up from the ground up. This way you learn the very basics of Linux, which will likely be a useful skill set for hacking. Also, as is probably said a many time before, cybersecurity tools on Linux are the very much better. In terms of performance, a bare-bones install of Debian can be way friendlier on the 2GB of RAM that is inside your computer, just don't install gnome or some other heavy DE. I suggest XFCE since it is light-weight but still a DE to take care of certain aspects that might confuse n00bs (like drivers, mounting, and configuration files). I'd say use it as your main OS, not in a VM to ensure good performance, and to stop you from backing out