C isn’t all that bad once you understand the incredible power you can wield with it. It’s more limited than C++ due to lack of proper OOP, but still very usable and nice to know as a foundation to C++ and other languages. I’ve been rocking both for the last 20 years and they’re still my favorites to use.
Not that I know of. I do a lot of native development mostly on Mint and Endeavor. I use pretty much the same tools on both and get a nearly identical experience. I’d say just go with what feels good to you.