I would recommend reading the manuals yes. Their are many manuals and not all are equal. The man pages can feel a bit strange as they list everything the software can do. To learn I found the archwiki to be better. (Also info manuals but many people are weirded out by the controls used to read these.)

Also don’t blame yourself for reinstalling if you mess up. It’s normal especially if you need the computer to actually work in a timely fashion