Between the Material You design and move to break apart the Chrome browser from ChromeOS, now more than ever, ChromeOS is Linux with Google's desktop environment.
They'd probably love a Linux system not by Google just as much.
You could try Mint, it's pretty friendly in my experience, the GUI installer (with the full apt and flathub repos) helps, and Mint can support auto updates which will help the non-tech savvy a lot!
“The button on the computer that also turns it on”
Also, this is exactly why the OS should auto update for people like them, rather than them having to use the updater and fill in their password and whatnot
My parents, for whom the internet is the only worthwhile thing a computer can be used for, love their Chromebook
They'd probably love a Linux system not by Google just as much.
You could try Mint, it's pretty friendly in my experience, the GUI installer (with the full apt and flathub repos) helps, and Mint can support auto updates which will help the non-tech savvy a lot!
You over estimate how tech savvy my folks are. Dad doesn't even know how to fully shut down the computer
“The button on the computer that also turns it on”
Also, this is exactly why the OS should auto update for people like them, rather than them having to use the updater and fill in their password and whatnot