Re: Planned obsolescence ?
Jaromír Cápík <[email protected]> Tue, 04 Nov 2025 09:22:10 +0100 (CET)
| Newsgroups | gmane.linux.debian.ports.alpha |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <8J8.TB{J.1WNtHLWZSyD.1f2RUo__10108.3335511916$1762246868$gmane$org@seznam.cz> |
--=_556cf8532d9342d6348b5eaf=f5a7b7dd-f356-5d4d-98f4-d828be7c3d31_= Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hello everyone. I educate people about free software and help them with migrations from = proprietary OSes to free ones, and one of the main arguments for free software deployment that I often use when communicating with someone askin= g me what to do with an old computer is that their hardware is still support= ed by free operating systems and can continue to be safely operated for many = years. I've already done a triple digit number of migrations/installations= and would like to continue doing so until something stops me. Please do not underestimate the number of people still using old hardware = (even i686). Especially people from poor countries and hardware enthusiast= s, whose groups are growing more and more in these years and who help keeping= free software alive, would be affected by bad decisions. It is not even a = month since I helped a friend migrate his 32-bit Sony Vaio laptop to Debia= n 12. After replacing the hard drive with an SSD, the laptop came to life = incredibly and became usable again, and not only for office work. And it i= s precisely the support of old hardware that brings more and more new people= to the world of Linux and free software after the unfortunate decisions of= Microsoft, and that is a label free software cannot afford to lose.=C2=A0= This has the potential to disrupt the favorable trend of people moving awa= y from proprietary systems. I kindly ask you for reconsideration. I believe that a lot of software has gradually reached a point where its = demands, given the features it offers, are no longer growing as much as th= ey used to, and so if we don't waste resources by making the resulting binary= code inefficient, the old hardware will continue to be sufficient for many= scenarios (and for many years to come). Thank you. Regards, Jaromir ---------- P=C5=AFvodn=C3=AD e-mail ---------- Od: Riccardo Mottola <[email protected]> Komu: Romain Dolbeau <[email protected]>, [email protected]= Kopie: [email protected], [email protected], = [email protected] Datum: 30. 10. 2025 10:25:17 P=C5=99edm=C4=9Bt: Re: Planned obsolescence ? "Hi All, Romain Dolbeau wrote: > Debian is (at least up to now) the Linux distribution one could rely > on to support hardware as long as its actual life without forcing > users to upgrade. I have ~2007 (Penryn) systems still in use that were = > deployed with Debian when new, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. If > it ain't broke, don't fix it, just upgrade Debian:-) > > Debian isn't Microsoft. Debian isn't Apple. Debian isn't Google. > Please don't learn the wrong lessons from them. Planned obsolescence > is bad, not good. I stand to=C2=A0 Romain. Long-term support also means less electronic wast= e, less consumism. 10 years might be for a laptop - although a good number now shows 20 years can be done if they were a lucky model, but certain embedded boards, servers are still working very well. Think about ThinkPad T series, PowerMac G3 & G4, Sun UltraSPARC system. Of course, certain pieces of software may be not useful with limited RAM = or single-core CPUs, but others to perfectly fine. Main issue is of course Kernel, toolchain and for laptops & workstations, video card support. Riccardo " --=_556cf8532d9342d6348b5eaf=f5a7b7dd-f356-5d4d-98f4-d828be7c3d31_= Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <html><body><div>Hello everyone.</div><div><br></div><div>I educate people= about free software and help them with migrations from proprietary OSes t= o free ones, and one of the main arguments for free software deployment th= at I often use when communicating with someone asking me what to do with a= n old computer is that their hardware is still supported by free operating= systems and can continue to be safely operated for many years. I've alrea= dy done a triple digit number of migrations/installations and would like t= o continue doing so until something stops me.</div><div><br></div><div>Ple= ase do not underestimate the number of people still using old hardware (ev= en i686). Especially people from poor countries and hardware enthusiasts, = whose groups are growing more and more in these years and who help keeping= free software alive, would be affected by bad decisions. It is not even a= month since I helped a friend migrate his 32-bit Sony Vaio laptop to Debi= an 12. After replacing the hard drive with an SSD, the laptop came to life= incredibly and became usable again, and not only for office work. And it = is precisely the support of old hardware that brings more and more new peo= ple to the world of Linux and free software after the unfortunate decision= s of Microsoft, and that is a label free software cannot afford to lose.&n= bsp;</div><div><br></div><div>This has the potential to disrupt the favora= ble trend of people moving away from proprietary systems. I kindly ask you= for reconsideration.</div><div><br></div><div>I believe that a lot of sof= tware has gradually reached a point where its demands, given the features = it offers, are no longer growing as much as they used to, and so if we don= 't waste resources by making the resulting binary code inefficient, the ol= d hardware will continue to be sufficient for many scenarios (and for many= years to come).</div><div><br></div><div>Thank you.</div><div><br></div><= div>Regards,</div><div>Jaromir</div><div><br></div><aside>---------- P= =C5=AFvodn=C3=AD e-mail ----------<br>Od: Riccardo Mottola <riccardo.mo= [email protected]><br>Komu: Romain Dolbeau <[email protected]>, de= [email protected]<br>Kopie: [email protected], de= [email protected], [email protected]<br>Datum: 3= 0. 10. 2025 10:25:17<br>P=C5=99edm=C4=9Bt: Re: Planned obsolescence ?</asi= de><br><blockquote data-email=3D"[email protected]">Hi All,=0A= <br>=0A= <br>Romain Dolbeau wrote:=0A= <br>> Debian is (at least up to now) the Linux distribution one could r= ely=0A= <br>> on to support hardware as long as its actual life without forcing= =0A= <br>> users to upgrade. I have ~2007 (Penryn) systems still in use that= were=0A= <br>> deployed with Debian when new, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.= If=0A= <br>> it ain't broke, don't fix it, just upgrade Debian:-)=0A= <br>>=0A= <br>> Debian isn't Microsoft. Debian isn't Apple. Debian isn't Google.= =0A= <br>> Please don't learn the wrong lessons from them. Planned obsolesce= nce=0A= <br>> is bad, not good.=0A= <br>=0A= <br>I stand to Romain. Long-term support also means less electronic = waste, =0A= <br>less consumism.=0A= <br>10 years might be for a laptop - although a good number now shows 20 = =0A= <br>years can be done if they were a lucky model, but certain embedded = =0A= <br>boards, servers are still working very well. Think about ThinkPad T = =0A= <br>series, PowerMac G3 & G4, Sun UltraSPARC system.=0A= <br>=0A= <br>Of course, certain pieces of software may be not useful with limited R= AM =0A= <br>or single-core CPUs, but others to perfectly fine.=0A= <br>=0A= <br>Main issue is of course Kernel, toolchain and for laptops & =0A= <br>workstations, video card support.=0A= <br>=0A= <br>Riccardo=0A= <br>=0A= <br></blockquote></body></html> --=_556cf8532d9342d6348b5eaf=f5a7b7dd-f356-5d4d-98f4-d828be7c3d31_=--