Lazy theory. Think about cars. If the diversity of alternatives was putting off people, I guess we would still all be driving black Ford cars.
I have been using Linux since 1996 and what is putting off people is:
I have fucked up somewhat like you in the past and needed to repair my system. In Linux you can boot into runlevel 1, single-user mode, where you are effectively root and can remove the root password, the re-enter one after you boot in the usual runlevel again. See these links: https://www.debuntu.org/how-to-recover-root-password-under-linux-with-single-user-mode/ https://www.debuntu.org/how-to-change-boot-runlevel-with-grub2/ https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/run-levels-linux/
Debian with the choice of LXDE as window manager. Debian offers high configurability to remove any heavy component.
I use the Notes app of Nextcloud. It syncs flawlessly between Linux and Android. Of course with your own instance of Nextcloud, hosted or self-hosted, you get sooo much more.
I second this. I have been using Ubuntu for at least 10 years by I really do not like snaps or flatpaks for that matter. So, after some disappointing attempts using Debian in the past, I had a new go at it 1-2 years ago and I was positively surprised: Ubuntu without the useless bloat - kind of normal because Ubuntu is based on Debian. For sure the my next PC will be using Debian: efficient, highly configurable, and quite user friendly once you understand it's ways of configuring things.
The spirit of hacking has to be revived. Not just for software but also computer hardware and hardware in general. It is just a dream, but curiosity about how things work would make people long for free software and the right to repair. So that is why hacking is discouraged by big profiteering corporations, I guess 🤔
As others said, check if it is a single case or if it repeats at the next shutdowns. Anyway, the main question this brings to mind is: do you have a good backup of your system / data ?
The sources.list contains a list of the sources that can be used for the installation and update of software packages. If you installed your Debian Linux distribution from a CD/DVD at some point, or maybe just by default if there is a CD/DVD player in your PC, an entry will have been added to the sources.list file corresponding to the mount point of the installation CD/DVD. Usually you can deactivate this entry after the initial installation, as I suppose that you further installs and updates will be from network sources. The full path to the location of the file is /etc/apt/sources.list. You can edit the file in a text editor, but as a newbie it is probably easier and safer to do that via your graphical update/package manager. Have fun discovering Linux.
For more information, have a look at: https://wiki.debian.org/SourcesList
If you want to simply make a folder containing media accessible to all on the network, I suggest to install minidlna, a UPnP server. All you need is to have the media folders accessible by minidlna. Otherwise the config is a simple text file.
The original Leisure Suit Larry series, Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Myst, Half-life, Doom, Quake, Lemmings, ... For more fire up your retropie or recalbox on a raspberry pi.
If he drops Windows for Linux, he might as well opt for a free writing software. I read that Manuskript has pretty much all the features of Scrivener and is somewhat similar so the learning curve should not be too steep.
Maybe best to set it up in a separate partition or PC for a trial.
See also : https://alternativeto.net/software/scrivener/?license=opensource
Buy yourself a second PC or laptop to be able to use both at the same time.
Yes, I have a Pocketbook and it runs on some Linux distribution variant. Very happy with it.
8GB of course, and a 256 GB SSD if my memory serves me well -_-'
People may not like the idea, but you can get pretty decent laptops from AliExpress for like 250$, which was like 50% of the price of a similar laptop from any local sales channel at the time. I did buy one for my son when he entered university and it still runs well: 5-6 hours battery life, 8 MB RAM, some older generation core i7 inside, full HD screen. The touchpad and keyboard are not great, but after 3 years they still work. The specs today would be better, I guess.
See this: https://www.debian.org/releases/bullseye/amd64/ch03s04.en.html Minimum 1Gb, preferably 2 for a desktop.
The reverse is equally true, if not more: Linux and Free Software are Wonderful Contributors To Valve Business. You know the expression about "standing on the shoulder of giants." Anyway, kudos to Valve. Don't become evil like the other big tech co's.