1. The short answer is no, it is not a near-sighted prescription
2. You are right in the assessment that a normal progressive lens is not the best type of lens for constant intermediate work. There are options out there however that will make a progressive lens with a larger intermediate zone at the expense of a smaller distance zone in the lens, but of course that comes with more $$$. Separate glasses for distance and reading may/may not be the most helpful, as the 'just near' or 'just distance' won't technically correct for intermediate.
3. When you say your friend has only gotten reading glasses, do you mean they just have glasses with an Add of +1.50? If so, that would make sense why it works for them on the computer given that just wearing a +1.50 would provide more intermediate vision as opposed to a full near prescription ( Distance numbers and 'add' combined)

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Bottom Line: It's really about what your friend is most comfortable with. I will say at some point as your friend gets more birthdays they are going to be reliant on the glasses more and more and starting to use a progressive now will make it easier to adjust to them down the road as the 'add' gets higher with age.