In this neck of the woods, a "newbie" usually means someone who has actually been using a computer for years, running Windows. And "newbie-friendly" therefore means Windows-like. I think Mate is the desktop that is usually recommended as a drop-in substitute for Windows XP.

The person I am thinking of is a computer virgin (yes, they do still exist ;-)). She has never used Windows and has no money to buy a computer with, but I told her some time ago that if I could find an old computer for her, I would show her how to use it. Well, I've found one; I can't give you the specs yet as I haven't wired it up, but it's a Dell with an AMD chip, currently running Vista.

I am veering towards Debian Stable as the distro. It must be something in the Debian family as that's the packaging system I'm most familiar with, and Debian Stable is, well, stable! And it's got a huge range of software including just about every desktop going.

Michelle's desktop will probably need to be something fairly small that makes no great demands on cpu or memory. The point is that she will have no preconceptions whatever about what a desktop should look like or how it should function. If I just gave her Fluxbox and some buttonbars (which is what I use myself), she'd probably be perfectly happy. But I want her to have something with proper icons so that what she learns can be generalised to other systems, not something efficient but eccentric. LXDE perhaps.

I'd be grateful for guidance, especially from anyone who has done this sort of thing before.

Hi Hazel...

That's what i was thinking, too. I've had great overall success with Lubuntu for systems with 2 GB's of memory and over. However, for us to be able to give you a more precise answer, we would need to hear the system specs. If possible, please also include the results from...

Thanks!

Regards...

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+1 for lxde, but I would also consider xfce at it is reasonablt lightweight, is full featured and most distros have as an option, I would avoid any of the gnome desktops like the plague.

Gnome is out of the question! But frankly I don't much like xfce either. It has its panel at the top of the screen, like a Mac, which I find eccentric on a PC. This is going to be a learning machine, so I want most of what I teach her to be easily extendable to other desktops including Windows. And most of the Linux desktops that I have seen have the panel at the bottom like Windows does.

I tried xfce in Dragora and found it almost impossible to use, as nothing was ever where I expected it to be. I don't want Michelle to have the same experience in reverse.

In my experience, it's best to give a protégè a near-mirror image of what you yourself use (or as close as you can get, allowing for difference in computing power). This serves a few purpsoses: 1) it avoids the awkward "hey, hazel, how do I do $FOO?" "er um I dunno, I don't use that distro or desktop, but I'm sure there's a way..." conversations, 2) it makes sure that when you're excitedly telling people about some feature you LOVE about Linux, they can go home and actually have that feature, because the thing they're running on their PC is the same thing you are raving about, and 3) it helps you see what your toolset is good at and where it could improve.

So I say give your friend as close to your personal version of Linux as possible. Spend time configuring it for her so that when she asks about something, you can rattle off exactly how to find it or do it, because you just know it that well. You say you use Flux, so give her Flux. If you're afraid it being too-Linux specific, then grab the LX panel and have it autostart. Go with what you know, and don't try to tailor her experience on the theoretical future where she might encounter some other OS. If you're teaching her computers right, she'll walk away from Linux understanding how to click around and figure stuff out.

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Mate is a fine substitute alternative to the Windows desktop.
Why would it matter if she's never used Windows?

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Frankly, as your friend is bringing no preconceptions to this matter, any fairly easy-to-use, straighforward desktop environment should be fine (that leaves out, in my opinion, Gnome and Unity and window managers that require configuration via text files); remember, she has nothing to unlearn.

With that in mind, I second notKlaatu's advice: as you will be the support person, something you find easy to support is likely the best choice.

with NO specifications it is impossible !

btw: >>> https://www.linuxmint.com/ <<<

Put a few and show how to switch and install(GUI+search) plus in case mess one up always have more.

Hello, Hazel...

* For Windows I would have suggested 7 or 8, but everyone is being shunted into 10 now, aren't they? Windows is the most popular "thing" out there, and there would be oodles of help, and also software to play with.

* For LINUX on that system I would recommend Mageia-5 with MATE desktop. After looking at many distros I have found that system to be virtually UNBREAKABLE. Mageia's Control Centre - where most config can be done at GUI level - is a mighty help too. (I make a side-note that Mageia is moving to version 6 shortly, which I cannot recommend to you, ONLY because I haven't tried it.) On my AMD PC Mageia-5 with MATE has been fantastic, starting right from the easy install. Mageia still supports 32-bit, while others are ditching it for economic reasons (I guess), but Mageia also has 64-bit. (That will depend on YOUR PC setup, and other Members here have shown you how to get the details.)

I also use Antix-16 with XFCE desktop which, on my olde system, I have found to be stable and very quick. (It is different to most other distros in that it uses a NON-systemd setup.) That is not really a "thing" at the desktop level though. I have had a few minor glitches with this and that, but the forum help has been very good.

I agree with notKlaatu who said that you friend ought to have a "matched" system with you (which will be helpful mostly to her probably).

Make particular note that I am not recommending other distros herein only because Linux distro choice often comes down to "suck-it-and-see" over time - and that can lead to extreme frustration, depending on which ones you "suck" first. [And there is a virtual "orgy" of Linuckes out there.] So for your "virgin" friend I believe the above "unbreakable" might be the best substitute, as a first pop try-out. (Or is that, first "suck"??)

[Lastly, other people will swear by other distros too and it can all become a bit of a "blur" in the end. There are others more popular that Mageia, and there must be reasons for that. [Unfortunately for me, on my olde system, I have never been able to use them.] I have, personally, found the Mageia-5 distro to be a worthwhile "ride" into the Linux world.]

Regards,
aka boombaby

Ok, here's a collective answer:

@notKlaatu: what I use on most of my desktops is fluxbox with barbarella (a program I wrote that puts up button bars). You write the config files yourself so that the buttons launch your favourite programs. I have a different bar for each workspace but you can have a single one for all workspaces if you prefer, and put it in the dock. I don't need lxpanel because fluxbox (unlike openbox) has its own panel built in. I do use lxde on Debian though.

@Habitual. I think you've missed the point. The fact that Michelle has never used Windows isn't a problem, it's an advantage. It means I don't have to just give her Mate because that's the kind of desktop she will expect. I know Mate is a fine alternative to Windows. But notKlaatu has made an important point: I'm not familiar with Mate so I wouldn't feel confident teaching her how to use it. Frankbell got it too!

I made my first attempt at wiring it up yesterday. It's tricky because I'm short of both cabling and peripherals, so I was reusing the ones from my main system, fiddling about in the dark under the desk. And I somehow didn't get the vga connection right so there was no video when I started it up. I hope that's not a bad omen! I have a spare monitor upstairs and a spare mouse too; I shall take the machine up there and wire it up in daylight. I won't have an Internet connection but I hope I can at least get proper specs. I already know from Google that it has a AMD Sempron processor but I don't know the architecture (it started out as 32-bit but they switched to 64 bits half way through the range) and I have no idea how much memory there is. The video card is nVidia GeForce which is not good news. I may need the proprietary driver. But if I can't get the video connection to actually work, all bets are off.

hazel,

Since you are a fan of Debian, why not try the lightweight antiX-16 which is based on Debian 8.5:

https://distrowatch.com/?newsid=09456

Screenshot attached.

Depending on the hardware, there is always its stablemate MX-15:

https://distrowatch.com/?newsid=09236

It is all down to personal preference, but I find the MATE Menu on Mint etc just so easy to understand and use.
MATE Menu screenshot attached.

Attached Thumbnails

   

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Now that is an idea. I've used AntiX before and of course it's optimised for old hardware. You know, I've just had an idea: I could install both Fluxbox and Mate and start her out with the former. Then, when she's confident with using that, show her Mate and how a desktop environment differs. And she can choose which one she likes best.

But I still need to get the thing actually to work. I can't believe a vga connector could be busted. Well, perhaps a male connector could, because pins can get bent or broken off, but surely not a female one. I must have failed to make the connection properly.

Hardware PS: Now I have a problem! That VGA port is definitely not connected to an active video card. What has happened is that the previous owner put an extra card into one of the spare slots containing what I have now identified as a DVI-I dual link connector and a S-video connector. Presumably this is now the active video interface and the vga port is switched off. The problem is that I don't have a monitor that will work with this setup. God! I hate hardware!

Just for info, the position of the main panel in Xfce is configurable (as are the panels for most desktop environments, conveniently forgetting about Unity). In Mint Xfce, for example, its default position is at the bottom of the screen.

Right click panel->Panel>Panel Preferences>uncheck Lock Panel. Drag the panel by the double dotted line at its end. Relock panel.

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If the Sempron is 32-bit, then it won't run any Flash plugin later than version 10.

I too would recommend Antix MX, or the ordinary Antix if that's too big. That will give you the Debian Stable environment you are used to. Xfce is very configurable and very reliable: a computer program doesn't survive for 20 years without doing something right!

I know how you feel about hardware: 1980s, DIN plugs, soldering iron!