Looking for the most simple/basic linux available

[bigbogus]

My mother-in-law is border-line afraid of computers. She wants to do a few things on a computer and nothing else. She wants AIM, internet and email (with the occasional ability to view a word document that someone emails her). Shes been using Windows XP and there is so much potential for her to mess with things that she doesn't want to get into. She basically wants to do these few things very simply and easily without other distractions.

Is there a very simplified version of Linux that I can install for her that just provides the bare essentials for her without making her intimidated or afraid to use the computer? I saw some screenshots for Ubuntu Netbook edition, but haven't actually tried it. Is that something that is usable for the computer-phobic user I'm describing?

Anyone have any good thoughts or suggestions for someone looking for the basics and nothing else?

[rokytnji]

Depends on her gear/computer on what to recommend.

For now. I recommend Fluppy.

Screenshots.

Only negative from me is Puppy Linux runs as root. As do most other versions of Puppy Linux though there are some versions that can be set up to run as user.

Linux Mint will do fine also.

[MASONTX]

I haven't used Fluppy, but have used Puppy 5 and 5.1, and I would steer a compter phobe more toward Netbook or easypeasy. Best bet would be to do a search on distrowatch.com for beginner and let her try a few of the ISO's you find to see what works for her.

[Segfault]

I'd use Xubuntu or Lubuntu as base and install what's missing.

[MikeTbob]

I'm of the opinion that any distro will work just fine as long as you will take the time to set it up for her just the way she wants it. Just keep it simple...if she clicks on a .txt or .doc file, then it should open a very basic text editor, when she clicks on an email attachment like .jpg it should open a small lightweight image viewer (Not GIMP, that's overkill).
I think Puppy would be good choice even if it runs as root, I'm guessing that even if her machine gets infected...there won't be much to worry about besides re-installing.

[nujinini]

I'm of the opinion that any distro will work just fine as long as you will take the time to set it up for her just the way she wants it. Just keep it simple...if she clicks on a .txt or .doc file, then it should open a very basic text editor, when she clicks on an email attachment like .jpg it should open a small lightweight image viewer (Not GIMP, that's overkill)...

Yeah. I guess although the distro would matter, its also 50% setting up and customizing the system for the user. IMHO

[Rubberman]

If she's ok with a netbook (small, simple, cheap), then try Ubuntu's Netbook Remix. It works well, is simple to install, and does all the web/email/occasional document stuff very nicely. They can also be plugged into a bigger display and/or keyboard/mouse if you want to use them as a desktop.

[darkrose0510]

I set up a similar system for an older lady a few years ago, I used slackware as a base and set it to auto-login to a simple desktop with just 5 buttons on it:
email - sylpheed
internet - firefox
text editor - leafpad
music - xmms set to play whatever cd she'd inserted
off - which just ran a passwordless "sudo shutdown -h now"

There was nothing else on the desktop, and I hid the fluxbox menu with an unusual key combination so she wouldn't be confronted with anything she didn't expect.

She was 68 had never used a computer before, but wanted to keep in touch with her family, and was quite happy with that, till moving to a nursing home where she couldn't use the internet, she gave me the computer at that time as a thankyou.

So as others have said, you can use just about anything, and just set it up to suit her.

[elija]

If you are going to be the support dude(tte) for this machine, choose a Linux that you are comfortable with and configure it to your mother-in-law's needs.

[DGrier]

Install ubuntu, then intall docky. That way you can put everything in the dock that she would want to do so all she has to do is start the computer and can click on the things in the dock. That will take you like 5 minutes to set up for her.