A while ago I installed Arch on my new laptop, as an alternative to windows. I managed to get everything i needed to work on arch work with the exception of some programs that do have debian support. So, I deleted windows from my old desktop, and I am installing Debian on that. In other words I will now be daily driving Arch and Debian on two different computers. I have escaped the windows hell.
Hamachi could be replaced with your own WireGuard VPN server, just your friends would have to set up their clients.
Tailscale could also work, if they’re looking for something with a little less setup difficulty. I haven’t used it myself as I’m happy to tinker with WireGuard, but it’s supposed to be quite easy to get going and I think the free tier isn’t too restrictive.
personally love zerotier, all of the above work well though from my experience!
I actually tried tailscale but one of my friends apparently already has ti and coudlnt figure out how to connect to another network without spending more money