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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

#331

Post by 8n4vidtmkvmk »

vfclists wrote: post #305
8n4vidtmkvmk wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Less productive. I started with C++, did that for about 5 years, then got sucked into web where I've been for about 20 years. In a funny turn of events, my company has adopted C++ and now I'm writing C++ again. I don't hate it, but 15 minutes to compile/boot a server or 5 minutes to run some tests is kind of unpleasant. And the occasionally UB bug or dangling pointer. It's just really outdated. Enough so that I don't…

Use Lazarus IDE and Freepascal and report your findings.

Then I'm learning an IDE instead of a GUI lib. Same diff, not interested. I'm happy with CLion.

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

#332

Post by tlavoie »

snvzz wrote: post #194
harel wrote: post #127

You're only using 61 MB of your 512 MB RAM. Megabyte. I love it. Megabyte. I distinctly remember the happiness of attaching a 512KB RAM expansion card to my Amiga, bringing total RAM to 1MB. You have 512 of those!

>I distinctly remember the happiness of attaching a 512KB RAM expansion card to my Amiga, bringing total RAM to 1MB. I thought the same (A500, new enough to have the Agnus variant and jumper to make it 1MB chip total). It happens a lot when it's about memory. 1MB was so much RAM, relative to just 512KB. It could suddenly run Monkey Island and Sherman M4, and it was suddenly much easier to work with Deluxe Paint and P…

I got the 4MB card for mine, since I worked at a computer shop and could get a staff discount. The only catch was that you had to solder a wire from that to the motherboard, which I had done with one of those trigger-operated soldering guns, and just about screwed the pooch. Lifted a trace off the board, taped it back down.

There was also the IDE hard drive interface that I thought was ingenious; it was a daughter board in the 68000 socket, under the CPU, with a ribbon cable connector beside the CPU socket, and the main chips between the legs of the CPU socket.

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

#333

Post by tlavoie »

andai wrote: post #95
Sakos wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

T420 would be perfect if it wasn't for the god awful displays manufacturers used. I'd still be using mine otherwise. Just going from a 1080p monitor back to it was a pain. After using my M1 MBP und my 4k monitor for the past year, I could never go back.

Not sure about this model but I modded an X230 with a better display for $100. Surprisingly easy, it pops right open.

Very cool. I just picked up a more portable, refurbished T450s to use for when travel or general portability matters, as well as being less to worry about than my primary device.

Is there a good site for recommended upgrades by model? I'm pretty pleased with this as is for Linux use already. (8 GB RAM, 250 GB SSD).

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

#334

Post by snvzz »

tlavoie wrote: post #332
snvzz wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I distinctly remember the happiness of attaching a 512KB RAM expansion card to my Amiga, bringing total RAM to 1MB. I thought the same (A500, new enough to have the Agnus variant and jumper to make it 1MB chip total). It happens a lot when it's about memory. 1MB was so much RAM, relative to just 512KB. It could suddenly run Monkey Island and Sherman M4, and it was suddenly much easier to work with Deluxe Paint and P…

I got the 4MB card for mine, since I worked at a computer shop and could get a staff discount. The only catch was that you had to solder a wire from that to the motherboard, which I had done with one of those trigger-operated soldering guns, and just about screwed the pooch. Lifted a trace off the board, taped it back down. There was also the IDE hard drive interface that I thought was ingenious; it was a daughter bo…

These days, that same A500 has an ECS Denise, a 68010, 8M FAST RAM, 1M CHIP, 1.5M SLOW.

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

#335

Post by tlavoie »

snvzz wrote: post #334
tlavoie wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I got the 4MB card for mine, since I worked at a computer shop and could get a staff discount. The only catch was that you had to solder a wire from that to the motherboard, which I had done with one of those trigger-operated soldering guns, and just about screwed the pooch. Lifted a trace off the board, taped it back down. There was also the IDE hard drive interface that I thought was ingenious; it was a daughter bo…

These days, that same A500 has an ECS Denise, a 68010, 8M FAST RAM, 1M CHIP, 1.5M SLOW.

Oh, I had the 68010, not the rest though, since it was drop-in compatible. I gave mine to a friend, wonder what became of that thing. Such a nice little machine.

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

#336

Post by bionsystem »

dTal wrote: post #322
OkayPhysicist wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The entire Manhattan project ran less than 5 years. If it's top priority for national security (which it absolutely would be), the heavens and the earth can be moved.

Sad to think of the list of things that don't make that cut. You would think that eco-friendly energy independence would merit top "national security" priority.

And food. And yet, pretty much 90% of the world could die in starvation and not a single finger would be lifted. Cut the chips production and it's WW3.

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

#337

Post by account42 »

LeFantome wrote: post #205
Gigachad wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is virtually every single company and developer wrong? Or is Qt actually not that good, forcing people to use Electron despite it's resource usage? I find it far easier to believe that Qt and GTK have fallen behind rather than the whole world is under a grand delusion and didn't know Qt exists.

It is web designers and JavaScript devs not wanting to acknowledge that desktop dev and C++ exist. I use an old 2008 iMac running Linux frequently and it runs remarkably well. Firefox and MS Edge are certainly the apps that bring it down from a memory perspective ( it only has 6 Gigs ). Electron apps like MS Teams are right up there though and make it chug even more than the browsers do. To be fair, I have dozens of…

> Compiling huge C++ code bases is a memory nightmare as well.

Not unless the company is penny-pinching when it comes to developer PCs.

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

#338

Post by account42 »

HWR_14 wrote: post #198
Gigachad wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is virtually every single company and developer wrong? Or is Qt actually not that good, forcing people to use Electron despite it's resource usage? I find it far easier to believe that Qt and GTK have fallen behind rather than the whole world is under a grand delusion and didn't know Qt exists.

> Is virtually every single company and developer wrong? Virtually every company and developer opts for simpler development and worse runtimes. Is that "wrong"? I'm not sure how to answer that. You could probably make a case either way.

Exactly, we have mediocre software for the same reason that we have chinesium for physical products - because everyone opts for the cheapest option as long as it is kind of good enough. Makes sense for the individuals involved perhaps, but is a giant loss for society as a whole.

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

#339

Post by account42 »

Gigachad wrote: post #239
couchand wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, if you're needlessly burning dinosaurs in a warming planet it's wrong.

The average consumer running electron apps on a MacBook is using far less power than the average HN user with a 1000w home lab made out of salvaged obsolete parts. Not to mention half the users here rally against EVs, public transport, and probably own an F150. The environment only matters when we are talking about a 1w savings with election vs qt.

> The average consumer running electron apps on a MacBook is using far less power than the average HN user with a 1000w home lab made out of salvaged obsolete parts.

Both of these would be using less power with more efficient software.

But no, lets excuse shitty practices that could save a lot (over the entire userbase) for relatively little effort because it doesn't solve everything.

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

#340

Post by account42 »

winter_blue wrote: post #326
couchand wrote: post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, if you're needlessly burning dinosaurs in a warming planet it's wrong.

Not to disagree, but the bigger factor for environmental gains is likely backend languages. If people could stop writing servers in languages that are literally 40 times slower (Python with Django, Ruby on Rails, etc.) in terms of the number of requests it can handle / throughput, that directly translates to more server instances behind a load balancer, which translates to 10 times the electricity usage. That, imo, i…

Are you sure that servers are really a bigger factor? Sure, it's easier to see how much power a data center consume but there are literally billions of client devices out there.

At least with backend software there is a financial incentive for efficient software. For client software there is no incentive unless there is actual competition, of which there is often effectively none as in the user cannot choose better software because interopability is not a thing.

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