org-mode is awesome for many reasons, but the similarities/overlap with markdown are an incidental benefit. I wouldn’t learn org-mode for that reason, however there are many other good ones that make it worthwhile. I’ve been using it for years for my own project management, tasks tracking, notes and many other things - it’s one of those rare tools that can do many things incredibly well.
30 years using Linux - most of that time as a Linux sysadmin. and this is unfortunately true. I got on the Apple ecosystem 20 years ago because I wanted to removed the sysadmin work from my non-work time and it does that quite well. I find most commercial technology to be a faustian bargain with my free time vs. my ethics.