Hi @killerwhalejames! I know I'm super late to this, but I used your steps to play the game, and it worked perfectly! I tried using a different renpy version the first time I tried to play, but no matter what method I tried, I couldn't delete Monika! So I'm really happy to see you found a better way. With your help, I was able to get the secret ending on the first playthrough!
Also, I've replayed the game three times, and while following your steps, I found a shortcut! You still do steps A thru E as usual, but I found a way to skip a lot of those steps. First, you gotta go to your files and open up DDLC thru your Linux files. Next, open the "lib" file and find the subfile "linux-x86_64". double click it and select "open with terminal". Once the terminal opens, just follow steps L to P! It will open the same way as it would if you followed the original steps. :)