M1 and M2 run Linux but don't expect usable battery life, Thunderbolt output or a few other niceties.

Ah ofc I forgot. But iirc not everything works and battery life will probably suck, no? So not really a consideration in this case of price comparison. It is an option though :)

Personally I also can't stand the exterior design, albeit overall hardware of MBP is good. Guess if I land an old MBP this is what I'd do with it.

How is Thunderbolt or display port alt mode support?