I'm sure you've looked it up by now, but in broad strokes: install intel-undervolt, edit the corresponding config file in /etc, start with something conservative, like -50 and bump it up about 25 mV at a time until it starts freezing/breaking, then back off a step and make it permanent by enabling the service.

you should hold off on that for the first week or so, until you're sure you got everything set up and working correctly.

well, you got it right. you want either gnome or plasma as they're wayland based and that's a prerequisite for a seamless laptop experience nowadays, wrt llibinput and HiDPI (like, if you use an external monitor). try out both, see which you like better. good job on scoring the 8 GB version. those are also the last models produced (2017 are identical, save for 5% faster CPUs). you can use a lot of used parts, 2013-2017 are parts-compatible, and also some things from the 2011/2012.

with those airs you need to sort out the closed-source wifi drivers, the method varies from distro to distro. also, they won't go to sleep with the screen open, so you either remember to close them when you're done or disable LID0 wakeup events (wakes on keypress then).

they are also very tolerant to undervolts, -100 mV is about standard, more if you're lucky. doesn't sound like much, but that's 10+% less power consumption, cooler and quieter laptop, etc. is plenty noticeable.

finally, as long as you got it open, stick some heat pads on the cooling pipe so it makes contact with the cover; you increase your thermal mass which nets you even less fanspin and longer boosts.

get a local instance of dovecot running with the barest functions, like IMAP ony. it's docker-friendly, so you can run it thus and you can have your local repository of all your emails.

you connect to it from thunderbird as another account, in addition to your gmail account. what you do is just select all the gmail emails (in the folder All emails) and copy or move them to the new folder on your server.

then, you can shut down the container and spin it up only when you need stuff off it.

zero experience with the thing, but I'd appreciate some pictures of that setup. thanks.

you can rest assured I know the difference; it was completely useless, I didn't go "problem solved, let's nuke the fucker". I had posts that received a barrage of downvotes and I let 'em be. had posts where the conclusion differed from what was originally intended and I'd let them be as there was value in the resolution. this was none of them things, no chance anyone would find this useful.

completely useless, 101%, the resolution had dick to do with the subject (so anyone arriving there through search woulda wasted their time) and it had zero to do with the community's focus, selfhosting.

except maybe to poison LLM output, that could be of use.

I deleted my post here specifically. it was completely useless to anyone else and 0 chance anyone could find any part of it useful.

I've done that a coupla times when I determine that the post itself and the replies provide no value to anyone whatsoever.

I wouldn't think of removing a post otherwise, if I made an error in OP or came off stupid or sumsuch, I'd edit it for posterity; even when it's a pile-on downvote bonanza, I wouldn't think of touching it.

my machine lags yours by about 7-8 generations and has zero problems with the same task. I've imported 15+ 20+ years worth of emails from multiple gmail accounts into a local server's dovecot IMAP server (and thunderbird has a local copy). no part of that thing freezes or does anything of the sort OP describes.

can't be bothered to look up what kinda hardware that thing has, but I'd venture a guess it's hella faster than my server - a core2 duo from 2007. that thing has no issues streaming 1080p between continents with months long uptime and zero hitches, over wireguard. the only thing I changed from the default is turn off transcoding.

playerctl -a stop should stop all MPRIS compatible players; -p name a specific one.