I got started with Linux and programming on an old (even for the time) Dell mini-computer I found beside a dumpster at my apartment complex. Only had to buy a hard drive as they had (smartly) removed it before throwing it out. I consider that a win, saved that thing from ending up in landfill and polluting the environment, and got multiple years use out of essentially trash. Still have it in storage somewhere, once again hard drive-less because I reused it for another project, being the only modern part.