Might be worth looking into a PiHole. One of the nice features is the white lists. So even if a list you are subscribed to is blocking something you need, you can still allow it specifically.

And/or run adblockers on each device individually. I actually do both, as the on-device blockers don’t get things like Windows telemetry. (Thank god the only Windows machine on my network anymore is my work laptop.)

What is disto?

A distro is the variant of linux you choose. Some are optimized for servers, some are optimized for general desktop use.

For beginners, Linux Mint is where I would suggest starting. It feels familiar to a Windows user and is specifically designed to be beginner friendly.

There is a detailed install guide here. But the short version is:

1. Download the iso

2. Put the iso on a USB drive

3. Boot to the USB drive

4. Click next a bunch on the installer. If you don’t have anything on the computer already, choose to have it wipe the drive and install Mint as the only OS. That greatly simplifies things.

Stop being a dick to OP. If you don’t have anything nice to say, you don’t have to say anything at all.

I cannot agree more with what you said, but I was giftee, not the gifter.

That makes things even simpler. You hate Windows, put what you want on it. You can’t change that it came with Windows, but you can change what it has tomorrow.

the current computer repairperson said he only does Windows

I would find a different computer repairman. That said, Frameworks are also quite repairable (that is kinda their whole thing). It’s an excellent system to get started with learning computer stuff yourself. Fixing your problems as you come across them is a great way to learn.

What’s the specific problem you are having with it? We could point you in the right direction.

Any computer repair shop worth their salt can fix a computer regardless of OS. After all, 90% of computer repair is searching for stuff on the internet.

When you give a gift, just make sure it’s using what you think they would most want. If they would benefit most from Linux, give them Linux. If they would benefit most from Windows, give them Windows.

MacOS getting a little side action, too.

Gives you more comparability on pen drives, too. Lots of people probably have a 8gb stick lying around, people are somewhat less likely to have a bigger one.

Yeah, forwarding a port to a server with SFTP allows you both to have two-way links. Have done this with some of my friends as well.

Sneakernet via a HDD is also damn helpful for initial bulk transfers.

That’s great to hear!

I hate, hate, hate when I fix something and I don’t know why the fix worked (or what the fix even was…). I want my suffering to result in something learned so it doesn’t happen again.