That’s awesome sounds like your Linux journey has really paid off, both for breathing new life into old hardware and boosting your workflow at work!
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You start tinkering with Linux at home and suddenly you’re the person who actually understands file permissions, networking, or why something broke.
Going from Mint to Arch with Hyprland is no small jump, so you’ve clearly picked up a lot in 18 months. 
I’ve clearly still a lot of learning to do… I recently had a problem with my laptop that I believe is due to a timeline snapshot occuring at the same time I was performing an rsync copy of a file that resulted in using up a lot of disc space. Solved for now..
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I got interested in adopting Linux 3 months ago after 40+ years using Microsoft products because bugs in their OneNote and OneDrive apps destroyed half of seven years of notes. Further, their behaviors were getting more and more intrusive and disrespectful (moving things around w/o informing; doing updates in spite of settings; continuing to mirror my local files to OneDrive even though I had unlinked my computer and uninstalled OneDrive)… long list. In any case I want nothing to do with them and am excited to get into Linux and all new apps. One computer is fully converted to Mint Cinnamon, LibreOffice, Thunderbird, Obsidian and others. I have my hands full getting familiar and learning all new environment. I still have another computer (Intel NUC) with Windows 11, but will start converting it once I get my files cleaned up and reorganized using two apps that only run on Windows (Everything and AllDup).
I’m an 83 YO woman who started working in software development in 1965 at Bank of America in San Francisco; having lived all over U.S. and France and Canada, I am now in Tempe, Arizona, adjacent to Phoenix.
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Welcome aboard, @sgtempe. Wow, what a story to bring with you! Honored to have you join us.
Starting in software dev in 1965 at Bank of America puts you right in the era when a lot of the foundations the rest of us inherited were being built. That’s not a casual background to be carrying into a Linux switch at 83. Very impressive!
Your reasons for leaving Microsoft are ones a lot of folks here recognize, though losing seven years of OneNote data is particularly brutal . Mint Cinnamon with LibreOffice, Thunderbird and Obsidian is a solid landing pad too, that stack will feel familiar quickly and won’t fight you.
For when you get to the NUC, everything has a decent Linux-side equivalent in fsearch if you want that same instant filename search feel. AllDup is trickier but rmlint or czkawka cover the same ground for finding duplicates, czkawka in particular has a GUI that’s pretty approachable.
Really glad you’re here! 
Looking forward to hearing how the migration goes.
PS. You can find a list of related article here: Articles & guides, Articles & guides > Community Picks and Articles | LinuxBlog.io.
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Kudos for having the insight to pursue a career in a field which, even 15 years later when I finished University, was still grossly dominated by men, and congratulations on your tenacity in sticking with it for a lifetime, knowing full well that it was not easy to survive the prevailing attitudes!
I bow to one of the many unsung pathfinders!
Thank you for making your presence known!
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Found this site while troubleshooting an issue and now finding more and more reasons to stick around. Lot’s of friendly helpful people coming from all backgrounds. I’ve been poking around in computers since getting my first Radio Shack COCO (color computer) in the 80’s but only taking it serious since the mid 90’s. In my previous careers I was a welder in the shipyards, underground miner in Colorado and then spent a decade as a carpenter in Saint Louis. Hurt my back, went back to school and ended up with a masters in Comp Sci. Now I’m a senior principal with a financial outfit here in town. Tried the people leader track but wasn’t for me so back to individual contributor. I don’t spend as much time playing with tech as I used to but I still putter around a bit. Other hobbies are music and languages. I have far more guitars than I could ever play and currently trying to learn Spanish. If you haven’t tried it yet check out Duolingo - it’s a blast. Gotta keep the noodle working!
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@Nosugrof honored that you decided to stick around!
Sounds like no matter where you start, you will always keep moving forward. That’s a range of areas you worked in. Really cool.
Don’t be shy about digging up / giving air to some of our older topics of interest. We are not a strict bunch here so make yourself at home.
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Thanks for hosting a site for the rest of us to hang out - very cool!
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It wasn’t insight so much as serendipity. I needed a job and this opportunity arose. However I had already been interested in computers and took a FORTRAN course a few years earlier (1961) because i had a job as a lung function technician at the time which required me to do complex calculations to measure total volume of patients’ lungs with a SLIDE RULE (that ancient computing device – ask any math major born after 2000 and you will get a blank look). These calcs took me an hour because I had to do them twice with same result before I could consider them correct. I knew there had to be a better (and easier way). In any case with my husband doing a PhD at Berkeley and being paid a very low stipend, I needed to work. In any case there were no computer science degrees at the time. All that was necessary was to pass the IBM aptitude test and look presentable in a business setting – no degree of any sort was required. At that time there were lots of women both in BofA, IBM, and elsewhere. I got in early and finally got my B.A. at age 44 and my M.S. in 1994 at age 52. In the early days I hopped around at different jobs always getting a raise and more optimum work situations – like working part time so I could enjoy other pursuits. I was in Berkeley from 1965 to 1968 - the golden years and there were many fun things to do.
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Shouldn’t minimize your role as pathfinder!
It seems to me like a repeat of the storyline from the movie "Hidden Figures"!
Strange thing, I actually still have my aluminum slide rule (Pickett, Model H-500-ES, yellow facing, purchased in 1974) in its black leather case, in the desk that I am sitting at, as my backup for the day that Skynet takes over or EMPs fry all computing. Because I lose brain cells every day, and the memories that go with them, I managed to find a copy of the manual that I lost somewhere.
(Sad to say, but not a joke!)
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What is so ironic: I bought a house and moved to Hampton, Virginia, in 2006 which is just a few miles south of Langley where the Hidden Figures ladies worked. I discovered through documents in the attic that the previous owner had been a mathematician at Langley. I don’t know for sure if she was one of the “Hidden Figures” ladies, but there is a good probability given the high percentage of Blacks in that area and proximity to NASA. They were likely 10 to 15 years my senior and I never had the physics/mathematical smarts they did although I was smart enough to win a Navy scholarship to college when I was 16 based on a math contest.
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