> A notable exception is the Pinecil by Pine64.org, which is truly a great iron despite being cheap.

I have a Pinecil and I like it, but I feel that it's not a good recommendation for a first soldering iron. The UI may be confusing for some, it doesn't come with a power supply, the tips are fairly expensive, and there's no place to rest the iron while using it. Instead, I would tell a newbie to get a middle-of-the-road temperature-controlled soldering station. They don't cost that much more and are generally ready to go out of the box.

I would certainly recommend the Pinecil as a second soldering iron, though.