Thanks to everyone. My netbook feels all new and shiny now. I got it up and running. Every snag is all worked out. I've learned so much in the past couple of days. I'm going to sleep like a baby from using my brain so much. Deb files, Tarball, Terminal, Sudo, repositories........so much information.
Big bonus is Scrivener on Linux is free.
It may not be the latest and greatest but it's decent. So I don't need yWriter. I've also discovered Zim Wiki which will take the place of Flashnote. And Libre Office is preinstalled. I'm all set.
Sent from my Moto E