I'm a professor of Religious Studies with a research focus on medieval Islam, particularly with regard to Sufism, the occult sciences, and manuscript culture. I also interested in all things linux, occult, scifi, UFO, and anarchist.
Linux Mint Debian Edition. Very windows-like + automatic updates = ideal for people who don't really want to have to learn anything new (assuming your parents are like mine in that respect).
I've been using tmsu for years to manage thousands of pdfs and images for my academic research.
It can be set up to work with a webdav database. So yes, you could self-host the database and access it from clients with local zotero installs.
How much you wanna bet that the same people who demanded she be uninvited also insist that the Israel/Palestine conflict has nothing to do with settler-colonialism?