Slackware was my alternative to Gentoo at the time. Gentoo was cool because it was all compiled, more efficient etc. That shit sounded good to me as a teenager. I remember one summer I had the Gentoo ISO all burnt on a CD-R and stayed up all night to watch it install and compile on my Athlon Thunderbird PC (My parents didn't spend money much on computers and I had to make do with stuff that I saved for with birthday money). I fell asleep on a bean bag and woke up finding that it failed to compile something. I had to resort to asking the main IRC channel and message board to help me fix it, but I didn't have time :) I was disappointed as a 14 year old. I then downloaded Slackware and printed off the installation guide at school. I followed it to the T and it worked. It was fun and awesome because it allowed me to understand how things worked under the hood and provided insights on how a linux system hung together. Those days in the 00s are gone but the memories are still there.
I am a iOS developer and I have an M1. There are some issues that need to be ironed out with some packages that I use not compiling for some reason on the arm iOS simulator, but that has diverted me to compiling on device which isn't much of a hassle.
I am not bothered as much by the 16gb of ram, it is still rather usable. What I really bought the machine for was the battery life. I've had it for a day or two and it is amazing how long I can stay away from my power socket. Also this thing runs really cool. I have not even heard the fans spin up once, even during the recent Sydney heatwave (45°C).
Ahoy! I am a developer who has had a complete iOS focus for the past 7 years. I have worked with multiple startups and have developed products used by thousands of people internationally. Although I have worked on mobile, I am willing to work on anything that you want to throw at me. If you have an idea or need an extra set of hands, feel free to reach out to me.
I'm in the same position thinking of making a pivot into the security sector (coming from a mobile developer background). I think if you're good and always on top of infosec stuff and contribute to the community, you'll always have work.