The first thing that comes to my mind about Minneapolis is 80s punk and alt. rock (Hüsker Dü and The Replacements to be more specific, I am European and probably a bit of an outlier)
106 karma · joined September 5, 2020
It describes the visit of a group of members of a FOSS community Cofradia (https://cofradia.org) to the Toledo family somewhere in mid 00s. Several users stated that the OS "looked suspiciously like MenuetOS". This is the opinion of people active in FOSS communities that probably had contact and played with MenuetOS at that time.
The article also makes IMHO a fair reflection on the family and their merits. The father is of humble extraction, with actual knowledge of electronics and low level programming but without any formal education. His passion about the topic becomes cult-like at times, with the rest of the family following his lead.
There is some charm in their naivety mixed with their display of self-importance. IIRC their "own" operating systems used to be derived from MenuetOS and similar open source projects.
As a side note, one of the family member (Óscar Toledo) seems to have been performing well in the International Obfuscated C Code Contest (IOCCC).
A setup like the one you describe can be quite OK (specially with modern hardware), but it may run kind of warm-ish due the lack of proper airflow (and heat kind of shortens life of electronic components in the long run). Worst case scenario, you can always install very low RPM fans to this setup.
1. I read on the product's page they are compatible with QMK firmware, which makes possible to configure the keyboard from Linux (and I guess from OpenBSD). Probably the convenient configuration app it's Windows-only, but it seems we are not limited to it
2. That's weird and should not happen. It may be a defect with the keyboard / stabilizers or it may be a problem with the spacebar key (it's bent, twisted or it has been manufactured with the wrong geometry), but definitely it should be addressed
3. My experience is that a proper chair with arm rests and a table at the right height make a wrist rest unnecessary (and it can be counterproductive from a ergonomics perspective)
4. Nothing to comment about the dimming feature
While nowadays you can find all kinds of prices and qualities regarding mechanical keyboards, $169.99 is really "cheap" for an entry level custom keyboard with these features.
My impression is that the keyboard hobby is one of those things you don't fully get until you are into it, it's a dangerous rabbit hole :-)
I secretly keep on wishing to build a true fanless system, but I have personally opted for something in between. A good quality PSU (fanless or with a fan only active after certain threshold), SSD drives (mechanical ones are terrible offenders about noise), a bulky CPU heatsink and good quality fans spinning at no more than 800 RPM can give you a really silent desktop for a reasonable price. If you need to add a discrete GPU to the equation you can get a not too power hungry one with decent fan regulation (they can work fanless under low workloads).
While not fanless and not a truly 0dB system, any potential noise is covered by any background noise, even in quiet places, your own keyboard typing or the audio from your gaming session if you are stressing your GPU.