* No launchd or systemd mess. Runit takes care of the init process.
* xbps: a fast and simple package management software, that also resolves dependencies.
* Clean but scarse documentation, if you have used other distributions you should be fine.
* No automatic configuration of programs, you have to explicitly define what you want for sshd, nginx, etc.
I started GNU/Linux distribution hopping after archlinux's maintainers decided to migrate to systemd, back then I had been using it without problems and for experimentation purposes followed the migration; after a couple of updates I had an unbootable system were systemd wasn't able to run logind, diagnosis showed all files where in place, but run out of time and didn't want to discover what was wrong with it.
I use voidlinux on a T410s mainly for developing, learning programming languages and experiment from time to time with KVM and libvirt (which is another mess), hope to change completely to openbsd in a couple of months.
Recommend Debian for the distro. It does a lot of things for you, and correctly, but it is also infinitely configurable. It can be the "just works" distro you need, as well as the hacker's tinkerable distro you want. And it has staying power and consistent security updates. Mix stable with testing/unstable and get stability where you need it and recency where you need that. Plus the community and documentation are very good.
KDE Connect
Also, I'm using a Yoga with 3200x1800 13" display without bigger issues, so in general, "retina" screens are replaceable.
>Although, there is no way for me to know.
That's the absolute showstopper when it comes to privacy anyway, isn't it? They can say whatever they want, the fact is - they build devices I can't control and invest heavily in keeping their gardens walled, which is directly against me being sure about my privacy.
MPV has also worked pretty well for me, in addition to Mplayer.
CMUS is a nice command line music utility. Works great in my experience.
Obvs desktop != laptop, but I run two Dell 1440p monitors on my desktop and they look just as good as my 6 mos old MBP w/ Retina. (Maybe font rendering on the MBP is marginally better, but maybe my eyes are getting too old to tell.)
And upgrade to Android next phone upgrade cycle, Firefox and uBO on that too.
* Mac is good hardware and software I can count on. Just pay and focus on your real job.
* Apple cares about privacy very publicly, so they are probably not selling my data or doing anything stupid with it. Although, there is no way for me to know.
* My work is buying the hardware for me. Why bother spending time building one that I need to maintain so much. Get the one that "Just works!"
But, recent weeks of blunders and annoyances in my Mac after updating to High Sierra is making me rethink. I'm going to spend my weekend configuring my Dell XPS with VoidLinux and set it up with open alternatives for most of my use cases.
True, I will miss some niceties like Retina Fisplay and crisp font rendering, but my self-made solution can be comfortably close to it. Although I will sorely miss the "Copy on the phone, Paste on Mac" functionality.
I will setup Tarsnap or something with crown and forget about backups except for restoration testing every year.
I will use Darktable on photo library that is synced to phone via NextCloud. Instead of Apple Photos.
Recent Firefox with Adblocker and Ghostery as a web browser.
Chrome for browsing Facebook and Amazon.
KVM instead of Virtualbox for VM needs. Docker for container needs.
Sublime Text for programming editor.
Clementine as Music player
VLC or MPlayer for media
Will figure out the rest. And put all the install/configure commands on a Ansible playbook and commit it to Github. So that next OS install is completely automated. If y'all have any tips for including in my setup this weekend, I'll appreciate it very much!