Sat 10 January 2026

Modified image of a stack of thinkpads taken originally from https://old.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/17xf8kl/my_thinkpad_stack/

A lot of people experience vendor lock-in and outright "ecosystem captivity" because they've plunked down several grand towards pricey and shiny laptops from Apple, Microsoft (*snicker*), Samsung, or whomever. Such a one would be understandably hesitant to wipe and format their main home or work computer to try out some "dodgy" operating system created by an opinionated Finn, a snarky Canadian, or some scruffy hackers wherever.

Easy fix, fam. Get you a cheapo $100-$150 used Thinkpad, or a dozen. You can experiment with "alternative" operating systems like Linux, the BSDs, 9front, Haiku, or whatever strikes your fancy. No need worry about losing time, work, or data while trying to figure out the basics. It can be a side project for however long you want it to be, and if you like it enough to daily-drive it, you can promote it to your main machine, or buy a nicer, somewhat-less-used Thinkpad.

Why Thinkpads, specifically? Partly because they tend to be more sturdy and repairable than the alternatives (although a bit less so more recently), and partly because they're popular enough to usually be pretty well supported by most professional and hobby OS projects.

Now, I remember being a Mac snob in the 90s and looking down my nose at boxy and clunky Thinkpads. I get it. But you know what? Utility won me over. I have literally washed my (oldest) Thinkpad out with running water under the sink before (don't try that at home, kids!) ;)

I've told the story before, but I bought my very first thinkpad in early 2019, intending to use it "just for writing." I put Linux and i3wm on it, and, well, the rest is history. Thinkpads are great little "gateway drugs" for fun FOSS OS experimentation, and way more legit than just trying something out on a vm.

Look, admit it. You've spun up dozens of vms of various kinds to try various OSes, only to forget them, and later delete them to reclaim space on your disk. There's no shame in it, but why not try something that costs you a little more than a vm, but that offers a little more permanence, but without any real major pain if things go awry?

My three thinkpads (I think I'll avoid buying a fourth one in 2026, but no promises! 😅) have been great launching-off points for me to experiment FreeBSD, OpenBSD, a little NetBSD, and more Linux distros than I could even begin to count.

What are you waiting for? "Fleabay" is calling! ;)

Bonus: ThinkCentres make great little office desktops, media servers/set-top boxes, or even light gaming machines in a pinch!

P.S., Pro tip, if you look for a Thinkpad with a 7th generation or older Intel processor, it will be significantly cheaper than one just a single year newer, because Windows 11 is a (horrible) thing! ;)

Category: Tech Tagged: Computing FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) FreeBSD Hobbies Linux Non-religious post UNIX