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TM
My mountain-cum-touring bike has Avid Elixirs and I've been riding around the wild places in NZ for years (which are genuinely remote - sometimes days from the nearest road).
I've literally never done anything to them apart from change the pads a few times, and flushed the fluid once in four years (which took maybe half an hour). They're still perfect.
But if your friend is really set on cable brakes, BB7s are pretty good (have them on my commuter), but much more tiring on the hands. I guess you can carry a spare cable more easily than you can carry a bleed kit, but neither reliability nor maintenance has ever been a problem for me.
If this is for off-roady adventures I'd recommend fitting the biggest rotors the bike can take, overheating was a real concern when loaded up on steep descents with 160mm rotors, then I changed to 180mm Shimano Icetech and never had a problem.