I use Fedora with GNOME for my parents and other family members. Some have used Windows prior, some have not used computers at all really, only iPads. They all get along very well on GNOME!
I have started using Silverblue the last year, which simplify things even further. Combined with the excellent remote controll functionality, it has been a really pleasant experience both for me and them.
If you can find a secound hand Fujitsu R727, they are great linux tablets! But they are not as common, in my experience.
It has RSS built-in, but since it is a static site generator, it does not support ActivityPub out of the box. But I do think I have seen implementations with some custom JavaScript.
I have been running this for a year on my old HP EliteDesk 800 SFF (G2) with 64GB RAM, and it performes great on the smallest models (up til 8B) only on CPU. I run Ollama and OpenWebUI in containers/LXC in Proxmox. It's not as smart as ChatGPT, but it can be suprisingly capable for everyday tasks!
OtterWiki looks awesome! The combination of markdown, git and a web interface is powerful.
Nice! It can also connect to a remote instance of ollama 👍
I use Navidrome, it's a single binary and gives you your own Spotify, kinda. It can be use with many other apps, in addition to the web interface, as it supports the subsonic protocol.
Fedora has been "just working" for me for the last couple of years. It is my go to for older relatives for that very reason.
Fedora Silverblue downloads new OS versions in the background and boots the newest version after a reboot. I use this for older family member who's been traumatised by Windows updates. I have also turned off notificantions that show up after a new boot with a fresh version.
The same goes for Flatpaks. Just updates without make a fuzz.
Its nice to give old people some peace of mind regarding their computing needs!
And Qwant is really great! Have been using og for a couple of years, and have no need to fall back to Google, DDG etc.