If you use Debian-based linux (Ubuntu, Minut, others), Mozilla recommends getting the package directly from their respository rather than flatpak or other repos.

Personally, I saw a major performance increase on my low-powered laptop when I switched from flatpak to the Mozilla package.

https://blog.mozilla.org/en/products/4-reasons-to-try-mozillas-new-firefox-linux-package-for-ubuntu-and-debian-derivatives/

Dell Latitude 5000 series are usually bought by corporations for employees. They are made of sturdy metal, and have features like backlit keyboards and physical trackpad buttons. Then, after 2-3 years, or if they have some minor problem, they end up in a giant stack that either never gets diagnosed, or just gets sent to recycling.

I have had fantastic luck getting a couple of these either direct from the company I’m working for, or from ebay or a company that recycles laptops. They usually don’t actually have a problem, and if they do, parts are readily available on ebay. You can end up with a high-spec laptop from just a few years ago for practically nothing.

I bought a cheap-ass Asus laptop knowing that the installed wifi module was not supported by linux. So I bought a new wifi module that had linux support for like $20 and swapped it in.

This is the one I got, but I’m sure there are more like it. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SH6GV5S

As arch users, we would never need the help of some low-level IT person though. That would be ridiculous.

I remember back in 2017, I didn’t really need any big desktop apps anymore. All I used was Salesforce, Netsuite, O365, Postman… I asked my company to just give me a Chromebook. Now I hate Chromebooks and I could very much do my job on a Linux distro mainly using web apps if needed.

My IT dept would never allow it because they can’t install security software on it. Obviously I’d be pretty safe from malware, but they’d have to trust that I set up firewalls and password protection because they couldn’t enforce a group policy, and their data loss prevention tools wouldn’t work.

Kinda. I’m using Elementary OS right now, and I think of it more like a Chromebook… with more options to expand it.

Interesting. I just tried it and that worked: I launch the site from a shortcut, and I appear to not be logged in… but if I click refresh, I am logged in.

I’m on Brave Version 1.60.125 Chromium: 119.0.6045.199 (Official Build) (64-bit), running on elementary OS 7.1.