I never said the objective was to learn Linux. The objective is to use it.
You can get terminal access on a smartphone. I can give you a screenshot or two if you like. You can also run Linux apps on ChromeOS now. It leverages containers from my understanding, a technology baked into the modern Linux kernel.
No it’s not pedantic you are using a true scotsman fallacy. That being said I don’t think using Linux Mint is any harder than using and maintaining Windows especially if you don’t have existing knowledge of either. macOS is easier to use than either Linux Mint or Windows.