Based on my recent and on-going project putting over a dozen different Linux distros on about 20 laptops (and several desktops), plus the weekly experience of refurbishing laptops with Windows 10/11 for charities, I have put together a document detailing the steps taken from presentation of a device through to installing Linux. Not perhaps as concise as I thought it would be, I thought there might be a workflow diagram to be had. Probably missed quite a bit too. Anyway, I’ll throw it into the mix, do with it what you will.
I’ve left the doc distro-agnostic. My own, current, daily driver is Mint Linux and lots of people get along with it just fine. I use it as a baseline distro in my project as it has pretty good hardware compatibility. However, I’m of the opinion that its a case of best tool for the job. There are distros that are specifically built for schools or gamers and it is worth keeping these in mind. Also look out for the very low-spec devices that can benefit from resource-light distros and interfaces. Of the distros I’ve tried recently I could recommend Mint, MX and maybe Zorin for a new Linux user, depending on their requirements.
It occurred to me while writing the doc, that collecting information about the devices brought in to events would make for an interesting dataset. I might put together a special form for my own group and I’d encourage other groups to collect as much case-specific info as possible. Can use the “Notes” field in the Fixometer to hold this info.
Another thing to investigate is the incidence of digital support efforts in communities outside of repair events. Perhaps reaching out to orgs like Clear Community Web to find out if they have plans to include Linux in their offerings. They might need help with guidelines and resources also. Maybe the “toolkit” could include a directory of such orgs.