Rust introduces some pretty awesome concepts, but I see why it might be controversial to some. I (sadly) have no use case for it though.

Same honestly, it’s a hustle to convince the Java EE dinosaurs of new paradigms. Never going back to Micro$lop though.

I hope no one got left unoffended

Functional programming in Java is kind of an afterthought and it shows. That’s one of the reasons why Scala was created!

When submitting issues, I live in constant fear of creating duplicates.

Apart from bad quality code, the PR might not fit the vision the owner has in mind for the project. Improvements are subjective.

Buy a used 1l mini PC like the Lenovo thinkcentre tiny (or similar Dell or HP models). You will have to spend a bit more, but you could get one with a pretty capable Intel CPU from gen 7 or 8 upwards for virtualization with Proxmox.

If you’re really just looking for a x86 SBC, get a Radxa with an Intel N100 or something similar. They sell at about your price limit with low specs on Aliexpress:

https://radxa.com/products/x/x4/