Fully agree. I am looking now for more than ten years for an alternative to ThinkPads because of the Trackpoint. Tried many many options, always send them back (including the TinkPad x40 series, which removed the physical trackpoint buttons) - but so far I did not find and forced to pay premium money to ThinkPad.
Have the T450s now for 1.5 years. Very very happy with. But if there would be something Linux friendly I with a perfect Trackpoint and keyboard and the "pro" options, I would give them my money. Imitating Apple will never attract me.
To be fair, a track point has to go right in the middle of the keyboard to be of any value. A USB serial is functional as a dongle for the subset of people that need that. Same for floppy and scsi for that matter.
Given that almost everyone has gone to chiclet keys with space between keycaps, I'm almost surprised that no one has tried to market a glue-on bluetooth track point for those who demand them.
Have the T450s now for 1.5 years. Very very happy with. But if there would be something Linux friendly I with a perfect Trackpoint and keyboard and the "pro" options, I would give them my money. Imitating Apple will never attract me.