Back To School With Linux
Quoting: PCLinuxOS Magazine - Page 4 —
All Linux users know (and the rest of the world should know) that the vast majority of Linux OS's can be had for FREE. Downloading the latest Linux distro of their choice, students can install it on that “older” hardware, and have a fully functional computer that's capable of doing everything the newer, flashiest, most modern computer can do. In fact, that's one area where Linux excels, in breathing new life into older hardware, and thus, extending the use of that hardware for a considerable amount of time.
While I'm not a student, here's an example. My “main” laptop is one that was “new” in or around 2020 (or thereabouts). I bought it (a Dell 5480) as a Grade A refurbished laptop from a reseller on eBay. It runs an Intel® Core® i5-7300U CPU @ 2.60GHz, but its hardware is not “up to snuff” to run Windows 11. In fact, it came with Windows 10 preinstalled on it when I bought it. Originally, this computer model sold for as much as $1,300, with all of the whistles-and-bells options available for it. I paid under $200 (U.S.) for it, and then upgraded the SSD from its puny 256 GB version, to a 2 TB NVMe SSD. I also maxed out the RAM on the laptop to 32 GB (four times the amount of RAM it came with). Those upgrades cost me about another $100.
After opening the laptop and performing those hardware upgrades, I then installed PCLinuxOS on the laptop. It has served me very well for over a year, and I suspect it'll keep going for quite some time to come. All of that for just $300. Compare that to a “new” computer, which is likely to cost much, much more than what I paid out.
The incessant upgrades to Windows that require an ever-increasing level of “minimum hardware” can be a real asset for Linux users. That also makes them a real boon for students looking to manage their education costs.