###Background

  I have a really old, 2011 MBP.  17", RAM 16GB, fast aftermarket SSD.

But it is getting old, the discrete GPU died, and I expect it to die at any time.  I generally like Apple products and am quite fond of macOS.  Not so fond of the price, and especially the lack of user serviceability, of newer MBPs.  You can't swap any parts on them and I find a 500GB SSD to be really on the stingy side of storage space for professional use.

###What should I do to maximize my options when choosing a new machine?

*I would like to keep my option open to move to a Linux laptop when this machine dies.  Most of the software I use is either open source or runs on Linux as well and I rely heavily on Terminal/bash already.*

I might very well stick with Apple when I need to replace this machine, it depends on their offering at the time.  But I want to keep my options open and avoid lock-in.

Would the following approach work in practice?  Any experience to share?  What should be on the lookout for to minimize my downtime if do decide to make the switch?

- stick to software that supports both macOS and Linux.  That's mostly the case already, the only thing I would really miss is `Preview` for annotating screenshots and my password manager.

- keep frequent backups, but, rather than relying only on Time Machine, backup `/Users/` via `rsync` as well.  (what file system is my best bet here?)

- run preliminary trials on restoring the rsync backups into a test Linux VM.

- shortlist possible laptop vendors.