Generally you'll want something from a Japanese company (Toyota corolla, Honda civic) and check the carfax report for accidents. You can ask about regular maintenance, check to see when the timing belt maintenance is due / if it was done, see if any recalls were taken care of, that sort of thing. If you have a mechanical friend try to bring them to take a look with you.
I think Linux looks intimidating when you're first getting into it, but once you realize it's not user-hostile by design like windows, you really begin to appreciate the experience.
Chickens that dismount you and knock you out