Im in the same boat you are. Dabbled in C++ long ago, but don't remember much. Blockchain has revitalized my interest in coding and computers in general and I want to take it up again. If for nothing else then to understand (even just slightly better) the crypto world of which I am now thoroughly addicted to.

On a side note:
the cypto world seems to favor linux over other computer OS. A friend of mine highly recommends getting to know the linux/command line because its "closer to a coders heart" as he says. Have you encountered similar persuasions?

My ultimate goal is just to get into blockchain programming. Does anyone think I should skip linux and dive directly into C++/python/solidity... or whatever code I end up pursuing.