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If you're happy with OpenBSD, probably any computer is good enough

muezza.ca

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Re: If you're happy with OpenBSD, probably any computer is good enough

#101

Post by verytrivial »

I love the idea of OpenBSD but have only had a couple of sad reintroductions over the years and never spent the time apparently required to "get it just right" before needing to get something else done.

It feels like a base install leaves you in several hours of configuration debt, and I apparently don't have the concentration span to dig my way out to somewhere interesting and not just half way back to productive on the systems I already use.

My newest computer is from 2014 for reference, oldest from around 2008 and I emulate older stuff.

I know I'm "doing it wrong" and perhaps it isn't a right fit for everyone but ... That's how it is.

Re: If you're happy with OpenBSD, probably any computer is good enough

#102

Post by darkwater »

rakoo wrote: post #61
pdimitar wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree that extra pollution comes from manufacturing and said as much in my post already. But I believe the fact that this laptop can last at least 10 years + it will consume a single order of magnitude less power over these 10 years adds up to more environment care. The production is already completed. The damage has been done. Let's use the machines at least because they are 10x more efficient and we can slow down…

I think we need to take a step back and see the big picture. There are 10-year olds computers sitting unused; as a whole, it can fill a percentage of usages. If it does then the people using them don't need to buy another one, new or refurbished. If they don't need to buy, other people can't sell as easily. If they can't sell as easily, they might use it longer, and not need/want to buy another one, old or refurbishe…

I recently literally took out of a drawer my old Sony Vaio laptop bought in 2011 and converted to a home server, replacing a RPI4 whose SD card just died (I used it for home automation). Well, the performance upgrade has been astonishing for me, probably it was due to the SD vs the SSD in the Vaio but I'm not going back. I'm actually thinking about self-hosting much more now!

Re: If you're happy with OpenBSD, probably any computer is good enough

#103

Post by voltagex_ »

amatecha wrote: post #96
ornornor wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously, you should see the hardware companies are throwing away right now… i5/7 6xxx computers and up… what a waste. They’re fully functional but they’ve been amortized so thrown away to the landfill and replaced with todays model to be thrown away in 3–4 years. What an incredible waste.

Ohh.. I've always wondered how to get my hands on this "garbage". The machine I use every day is from like 2013... the fastest PC I own has a processor that was launched in 2014. It's partly because I'm frugal and partly because I don't believe in constantly replacing hardware that works just fine. But it sounds like by this point companies are throwing away stuff far newer than what I use! haha

Depending on where you are, there'll either be local auctions of surplus tech, or eBay / refurbishing stores selling these kinds of things. I always went for Dell Optiplex, but there are HP and Lenovo equivalents too

Re: If you're happy with OpenBSD, probably any computer is good enough

#104

Post by steponlego »

squarefoot wrote: post #20

I totally understand the nostalgia value, but energy doesn't grow on trees. A small mini-PC would consume a fraction of the current needed to run those old machines, offering much more computing power in return. Not to talk about the much better scaling achieved by modern processors; some iMac models would idle at almost 100 Watts.

A Mac LC absolutely sips power, you should see how long you'd have to run your $300 mini PC to save enough power to make it worthwhile.

Re: If you're happy with OpenBSD, probably any computer is good enough

#105

Post by reisse »

josephcsible wrote: post #82
1over137 wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>the old stuff consumes 90 to 200 watts, heats up easily and noticeably Which is great when it's -30 outside, like today. :)

Even then it's not really great. If your goal with electric power is heating, heat pumps are a much more efficient way to do so.

Not when it's -30 outside.

Re: If you're happy with OpenBSD, probably any computer is good enough

#106

Post by steponlego »

irusensei wrote: post #62

I wish it had something like jails/lxc and a modern file system like ZFS or BTRFS.

They recently upgraded FFS for 64-bit. I think they have the right philosophy, these FS's you mention are FAAATTTTT and would probably at least double to size of the tree. You can always set up a NAS with ZFS and simply use it with NFS.

Re: If you're happy with OpenBSD, probably any computer is good enough

#107

Post by steponlego »

anthk wrote: post #11

The blog's author might like this dillo fork. It needs autoconf, automake, gmake, mbedtls and ftlk. https://github.com/w00fpack/dilloNG Mpv it's recommended, at it has a context menu to play videos with it and the help of youtube-dl or yt-dlp. A config for it: ~/.config/mpv/config ytdl-format="bestvideo[height Also, for X.Org, you can set the config for the ATI driver so it loads the DRI2 drivers among the EXA render…

Any advice on how to get Intel 855 working with Mesa? X.org had an update and they removed or deprecated the engine it used. Thanks.

Re: If you're happy with OpenBSD, probably any computer is good enough

#108

Post by hamstrunghuman »

I couldn't agree more. I've been using OpenBSD on a RaspberryPi 4 B for the past few months as a nginx, uwsgi, dnsmasq, ftp (for 4x security cameras) and squid proxy server for the past few months. This replaced a debian install that keep annoying me with it's systemd/networkmanager crap. Not only am I impressed with the performance, the simplicity and confidence I get in it's security is a breath of fresh air.

Re: If you're happy with OpenBSD, probably any computer is good enough

#109

Post by drewcoo »

johnklos wrote: post #33

There are lots of people in the comments here who appear to not get it. This isn't about replacing a contemporary computer with something old. It's about the usability of a decent OS on very modest hardware. One of the systems on which I run NetBSD is a 33 MHz m68030 Mac LC III+ ( http://elsie.zia.io - it's hosting a site about an LC II, which I'm still working on). It's quite useful to see how assumptions people mak…

I think any article on HN is really just a jumping off point for people to talk about themselves. Everyone's had old computers, so that's easier to talk about.

Re: If you're happy with OpenBSD, probably any computer is good enough

#110

Post by drpixie »

abricot wrote: post #4

If you are happy not surfing most of the Web, any computer is good enough. It's usually browsers and web pages that brings these older PCs down.

Presumably the result of Google making Chromium more and more like a whole OS (and everyone else following along). Is it ridiculous to give a browser such fine-grained access to your computer? If we were actually designing web standards for usability (instead of for maximising attention) our browsers would look al= lot more like Web 1.0 and nothing like Web 3.0!
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