Taking only a part of my post does not make sense in this context.

Open source is when the source code is available.

Free software is when the source is available and the license lets you exercise your 4 freedoms.

Good idea IMHO, and I never heard about these HDMI dummies. Might try this.

You’re right, they are not as expensive as I remembered. I’ll try to find one on ebay. How do you access the console - browser with Java applet?

Uses quite a lot of space, that’s why I’d prefer slide-out if it weren’t so expensive.

2FA is more secure, and IMHO there’s no need to be upset.

I’ve exclusively used Thinkpads with Linux as my daily driver since 20 years now. Programming, office, general tinkering (no graphics-intensive stuff though) - had almost no issues in the whole time.

IMHO for Linux, you really can’t go wrong with any Thinkpad nowadays.