I've been using a 2018 11 inch ipad pro as my personal "laptop" since around then and it is still going strong. The keyboard case when it was released in 2020 was pricy but works well.
As you mention in the article iSH, aShell, BlinkShell, SecureShellfish, and Pythonista might not be quite enough but it gets the job done for me. I just want an arm-based return of the 12 inch macbook to be honest. Small computers rule and the 13 inch air is too big.