I used to think that beginners should start with using a stable edition.
However, when they want to try something new, they probably run into such
problems like obsolete kernel or outdated dependencies. Furthermore, bugs in
stable editions get fixed very slowly, if not never.
By contrast, a (semi-)rolling released distribution always ship latest
packages, offering better hardware support and productivity. Users can learn
to contribute very quickly by participating development, even if what they
can do is to report bugs or request new features. If they want to try
something new, they needn't to worry about latest dependencies.
This is why I no longer recommend others to use Trisquel or Debian stable.
