> their design isn't particularly better than the others
Well, to be fair, they occasionally make rather nice hardware.
For my usage, the reason the Linux-on-Mac efforts are useful is that Apple hardware becomes easily and cheaply available once it is no longer supported. My home server is an old Mac Mini (GigE, HDD + SDD, double core Haswell, 7 W power envelope, doesn't take up space, silent) running stock Debian. When it dies, I'll probably be able to replace it with an M2 model, thanks to Asahi and friends.
Well, to be fair, they occasionally make rather nice hardware.
For my usage, the reason the Linux-on-Mac efforts are useful is that Apple hardware becomes easily and cheaply available once it is no longer supported. My home server is an old Mac Mini (GigE, HDD + SDD, double core Haswell, 7 W power envelope, doesn't take up space, silent) running stock Debian. When it dies, I'll probably be able to replace it with an M2 model, thanks to Asahi and friends.