Any models you would recommend to check? I haven’t been in look for Chromebooks for years (like 5 years). I would rather buy small and tiny, and also very cheap. As my use-case is just slacking with it around the house.
If it's supported and I'm comfortable with the method for disabling write-protect then I pull the trigger.
I usually install xubuntu, but on a couple models I've found Ubuntu/Debian based distros have some issues with the trackpad, but Fedora running XFCE works fine, so you may want to go straight to that if you're comfortable with Red Hat.
I am never going to waste time on things like compilation when the laptop next to it can do it faster, yet convince myself "oh but it is better for the planet". I don't know what kind of idiot does that.
(Which is why I did not hesitate to replace my laptop when I found that a new laptop would be 1.5x-2x faster in everyday tasks.)
Fully usable also means that you might have to adapt your your habits: Keeping many tabs open is just being unorganized for many users. For a programmer having to checking the documentation of many classes regularly, each of them on a different page it might be slightly different. But 99% are not developers.
I am developer. When I build Yocto I am glad to have 32 or 64 GB available. When I travel (for fun) I am glad to be able to use 2 GB efficiently, without really suffering from ultra slow reponse times. A couple of seconds here and there have not spoiled my leisure time.
It depends on the software. When the developers are targeting the "average user", then everyone who uses hardware that's significantly older than average will be punished accordingly. This doesn't mean it's actually hard to support that old hardware, it just means that performance isn't a priority.
If everyone used old hardware for longer, then the software would support old hardware better.
Also, latency has been going up over time rather than down: https://danluu.com/input-lag/
This is more of a social problem than a technical one.
I am used to everything loading in an instant. I rather waste money than waste time. Money I can make, time I can't.