One key argument for moving to Linux is the environmental benefits. Joanna Murzyn, who spoke at the KDE Akademy conference in 2024, warns about the increasing problem of electronic waste (e-waste). In her presentation, titled Only Hackers Will Survive, she highlights the environmental toll of throwing out perfectly usable computers.

E-waste, which includes discarded laptops, desktops and other electronics, releases toxic substances like lead, mercury and cadmium into the environment, according to Murzyn. These substances can contaminate soil and water as well as cause long-term harm to ecosystems and human health. Murzyn urged people to resist the urge to “upgrade” to new hardware and instead explore solutions like Linux that extend the life of existing devices.

For users with older laptops and desktops, especially those incompatible with Windows 11, switching to a Linux distribution is a powerful way to avoid discarding perfectly usable hardware. openSUSE, for example, provides excellent performance on a wide range of hardware, including machines more than a decade old. By choosing Linux, users can continue using their devices for years to come and don’t need to invest in new hardware.

Switch to GNU/Linux! If you’re still using Windows in $CURRENT_YEAR, flock to Linux Mint!; Apple Silicon users will want to check out Asahi Linux.