Why I use Linux

Let me count the ways …

Recently I floated the idea of buying myself a new computer and specced out a nice ThinkPad T14 with a bright screen.

I didn’t buy it.

My ever supportive spouse looked suspiciously at the specs and said. “Why don’t you get yourself a proper computer that will last for ever? Why don’t you get a Mac? They look good, are powerful and last for ever.”

I completely agreed with her. Macs were the best, the very best of hardware.

But, I said, I want to run Linux. We then had a brief discussion where she asked why I wanted to run Linux and I didn’t give very compelling answers.

Like a supportive partner she didn’t press me on the matter, except for the very insightful question “Can you put Linux on a Mac?” (The answer in 2025 is a qualified yes, with Asahi Linux. However, I don’t know how much work that is.)

Thinkpads I understand, and I’m pretty confident that if I buy a Thinkpad, I’ll be able to put Linux on it. In fact the Thinkpad I specced out would come installed with Fedora, saving me about $100 in licensing costs compared to the same machine with Windows installed.

To be completely honest, I don’t need another laptop. I’m typing this on an X220 I got for free. Yes, it’s as fabulous a machine as they say it is.

This one was made in 2011. It’s a tank. It’s small and light. The keyboard is a bit noisy, but it feels like a mechanical keyboard, like the ones real programmers lust after and show off, making satisfying clacking noises. I don’t think you can get keyboards like this any more on laptops. Did I mention I got it for free.

Yes, I’ll shut up about my fabulous antique computer now. Except for one more note about it.

Yes, it’s running Linux. A very recent distribution of Linux. I replaced the original hard disk with an SSD and got an extra large battery.

The battery doesn’t last as long as I would like (I can get maybe 6 hours out of it writing and browsing the internet)

One of these days I might upgrade the WiFi card. It’s a tad slow. But not slow enough to motivate me to do the swap.

I write my novel on it using git, pandoc and neovim. I use Podman to run a Jekyll server to preview this blog as I write it.

I run the latest version of Firefox. I’ve used it to program ESPs, Arduinos and my Occulus Quest.

The screen isn’t spectacular but I can watch Netflix on it.

Sorry, I told you I was going to write about Linux and stop blathering about what a fabulous machine the X220 is. I suppose I should mention survivor bias in this context.

I could tell you that I love Linux because I like the idea of freely installing software on my machine. I like the ability to write my own software for my own machine and sharing it with other people, without having to spring for a signing key or something. I like being able to write tiny scripts to customize my notification bar. I like writing plugins for the editor I’m using. (Yes, yes, I could probably do all of this on Windows or MacOS. But not as simply I think. And not on this machine.)

But mostly I love Linux because I can use the latest version of Linux on a 14 year old machine.