Before you give #IT #Tech advice to people, especially elderly people, keep in mind that they mostly don't want to be part of your flamewar. They more likely just want to have something which works. Especially when leading them through a transition from #Windows to #Linux , all they need is something that works for them. Instead of going "Oh, you want this distro", go "you want this environment". The WM/DE they choose to work with matters A HELL OF A LOT MORE than the distro they run it on.