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I want to factory reset my computer. Can I do it with the command line or do I need to boot a pen drive with Ubuntu?
If I can do it with a bootable pen drive, what program can I use to create the bootable media on Ubuntu? I've tried Rufus, but it only works on Windows.
I am also thinking about switching to Kali Linux. Is it too heavy? Is it very different from Ubuntu?
There is no "factory reset". Just reinstall the operating system. If you need a refresher on how to install Ubuntu, use the official tutorial. The tutorial covers every single step of the installation, including downloading and creating bootable installation media.
FYI, Kali is in no way a replacement for Ubuntu or any other general purpose Linux distribution. It is only intended for a narrow focus: to provide a suite of pentesting tools for pentesting professionals. In fact, even the developers discourage using it as your main OS.
If you are using a Persistent pendrive like Rufus makes, you can reset the drive by deleting everything on the "casper-rw" partition. Some other USB creators call this partition "writable".
The persistence file will start rebuilding itself the next boot, just like from the factory.
In Ubuntu you can make a Live, (non-persistent), pendrive using either Disks or Startup Disk Creator.
In Disks go to the upper right and select restore disk. Select the Ubuntu ISO file as source and the USB as destination.
mkusb https://help.ubuntu.com/community/mkusb, will make anything from a Live USB to a Persistent USB with a NTFS partition so you can still use the USB for data.
You can also do a Full install of Ubuntu to USB that uses a pendrive rather than an internal disk.
You can put Kali on it's own partition if the pendrive is large enough.
