@petebrown I have a superannuated MacBook Air that's currently running one of the friendly Linux distros. First thing I noticed: terrible battery/power management. (Other distros have the same issue on this machine.)

So why do I keep a Linux distro on the machine? Because it would barely run with its Mac OS. I could not actually do anything with it. Open an app? No, sorry, not today, let it run until tomorrow and then check for signs of life.

So with Linux the machine will run for about six or maybe only three hours, elevated to keep the box from getting too hot ... but it works!

Fortunately, I have too many machines, and the one described is a kind of playground.