Based on our record, OSGeo-Live seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 3 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.
Since you have the time but not a big budget, I recommend a good look at OSGeo Live (https://live.osgeo.org/en/index.html). I'm fairly sure your budget can spare 10 bucks for a spare USB thumbdrive, and a 2015 intel-based macbook should have no problem booting from USB (as long as you're technically savvy). Source: about 2 years ago
I'm gonna plug OSGeo Live (https://live.osgeo.org/en/index.html), a linux distro specifically packaged for demoing/learning most of the GIS tools available for Linux. Source: almost 3 years ago
If it's just for testing when it locally use OSGEO Live Virtual machine or bootable flash drive of Dvd OSG alive has everything! Https://live.osgeo.org/en/index.html. Source: about 3 years ago
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