For roughly the same cost you can get a used laptop off ebay
I'm going to assume that we're talking about building an embedded device, controller, standalone appliance that interacts with the real world -- this is the intended market for most of the devices in the original article.
If you need to set up just one server or controller, a used laptop off eBay is a sensible way to go.
But if you're going to need a whole bunch of them, doing it that way will cause a ton of development grief. I've been there.
Unless you can be assured of a steady supply of exactly the same used laptop or whatever used device you're looking for, each variation that you buy will have some difference in firmware, BIOS, peripheral support, interface connectors, or whatever that will cause you to spend massive time adapting your software or hardware to it.
The money you save by buying cheap used systems will be nullified by the extra development you have to do for each variation.
I'm going to assume that we're talking about building an embedded device, controller, standalone appliance that interacts with the real world -- this is the intended market for most of the devices in the original article.
If you need to set up just one server or controller, a used laptop off eBay is a sensible way to go.
But if you're going to need a whole bunch of them, doing it that way will cause a ton of development grief. I've been there.
Unless you can be assured of a steady supply of exactly the same used laptop or whatever used device you're looking for, each variation that you buy will have some difference in firmware, BIOS, peripheral support, interface connectors, or whatever that will cause you to spend massive time adapting your software or hardware to it.
The money you save by buying cheap used systems will be nullified by the extra development you have to do for each variation.