You've completely missed the point. I was never arguing that Chris couldn't spend his hard earned money on what he chooses. I was arguing that the spending seems very excessive given the income vs expenses that are visible.

Yes you're right we don't know how much he pays ScaleEngine. I'm sure it isn't cheap. We also don't know how much he pays Rikai. And I know he also has an extremely fast internet connection that aint cheap as well. Again, given all these expenses and the amount of patreons the show has, I can't see how he could have that much extra cash for toys unless he is making major sacrifices towards rewarding all the other contributors of his shows.

And yes I am going to call them toys. The dell laptop is a "business" expense? Dude, he has that kick ass Bonobo Extreme and probably several other laptops kicking around. The Librem laptop a legitimate "business" expense? Dude, that $2k could have been spend going to LinuxFest meeting with members of the community. I'd argue this value is 10 fold over some shitty overpriced laptop. A Galaxy S6 is a legitimate "business" expense? Dude, he has several other smart phones. How bout that Android smart watch he bought not long ago? Is that also a "business" expense? Oh and all those kickstarters are also "business" expenses. I'm sure that $40 solar battery pack is loaded with "open source".

Again, if JB was super successful and was making a shit ton of money then this would all be a non-issue. The issue is Chris is constantly complaining on his shows how he can't do all the things he wants to do. He said he couldn't afford to go to that other Linux Fest. He said he couldn't afford to go to Noahs house. He says he wants to go on the road more but can't afford it. So he pleas for more patrons so he CAN afford these things. And what do we get? $5k worth of toys. Best bang for our buck supporting the network!