general use solutions for 80 yr old w/ iMac

Need to know:
          "can Ubuntu (latest version, preferably, but any version, if the current version won't work) be
           installed on (a very) early iMac G3 machine?"
  also: "can Currently available NEW printers run on those machines, running UBUNTU? If so, what manufacturer
            and model of printer"

     I am the "computer guru" [her term] for an 80 yr old woman who needed e-mail with printing capabilities a few years ago. I originally set her up w/ an ancient used mac (centris 650 w/ stylewriter II printer, for those who care) because it was dirt cheap and did a better job than her "MailBug" (does that company still even exist?). Eventually [actually, surprisingly quickly] she learned enough to want to do things that weren't possible with that setup, so I brought her to the used mac store and she got an early iMac G3 (OS 9.2.2) and color printer. That worked to fulfill her needs. However, the printer died a couple of years later, so we [had to go] went back to the "used mac store", and she got another used printer. That printer just died. She wants a NEW printer, to avoid the problem of --"the previous user abused it almost to it's death"-- , but we found that new printers are difficult, if not impossible, to find that will work with 9.2.2. Early iMac G3s are too slow to run OSX acceptably, so I can't solve the problem by "upgrading" to X. I was about to go back to the used mac store to try to get "still another" used printer, when it occurred to me that UBUNTU may work on early iMac G3s, and maybe there are drivers for NEW printers available.
     She's 80 years old. A brand-new printer will probably OUTLIVE her, if it's a halfway decent one. Her needs are few, and can be more than satisfied by the latest releases of Firefox, Thunderbird, and OpenOffice. I should not ever have to get her an improved machine, or upgrade her software, as long as the machines themselves outlast her. That will not be an issue if ubuntu can run on early iMac G3s, and new printers are available for that hardware. My question is: Can this be done?

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