My laptop is a 2011 X220 ThinkPad running Debian 12. It has a shitty (polite version) TN screen but I often use it connected to an external monitor and, with its maxed-out 8g ram and an upgraded 1To SATA SSD, it still rocks… for what I use it for,. Mostly: writing (Mousepad and/or LibreOffice), designing ebook covers (in Inkscape), listening to music, watching movies (I don’t use Blu-ray or really high definition videos), and browsing the web… on Vivaldi, obviously (coupled with the right extensions, blockers and stuff to make that bloated-web somewhat usable).
My other computer is a newer Mac Studio M1 that I use for video editing (DaVinci) and fore more intensive image editing than ebook covers (using Affinity apps). This Mac is impressively powerful and responsive. My ‘other other’ computers are also Apple: an iPhone and an iPad.
I like the integration of Apple’s apps and how, for the most part, stuff just work between the Mac and the phone or the iPad, it makes things a lot simpler, but I still prefer using GNU/Linux Debian as often as I can.
- I love how I can configure GNU/Linux (and Xfce, my desktop environment) however I fancy, without any of the artificial limitations Apple is forcing upon its users.
- I love that GNU/Linux and FLOSS in general respects my privacy and my rights as a user.
- I like how Debian is incredibly snappy on my old laptop, more so than all the other distros I tried (Manjaro, Ubuntu, Fedora), the only that can compare being Arch (but it was requiring too much attention).
- I like how Debian is unobtrusive and rock stable, too. Security updates, and that is all. Years of peace of mind, if you feel like it. And, yep, I do. I’ve first installed Debian 10 and have simply upgraded it to 11 and now 12.
If only I could use Debian on my tablet and phone too, and get the same quasi-flawless integration and frictionless workflow Apple is giving me, I would probably not miss Apple. Meanwhile, I live and work in between these two worlds 😉
👍👍