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.
I remember the first time I saw it, "we have to run it on a Sun workstation or else..."
If you're happy with OpenBSD, probably any computer is good enough
351–357 of 357 posts
Re: If you're happy with OpenBSD, probably any computer is good enough
#352Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Honestly after seeing the absolute state of Linux on the desktop over the last decade, there is no reason for me to even consider it any more. What is wrong with Linux on the desktop, and how is OpenBSD better?
Can't comment for all aspects of a Linux desktop versus an OpenBSD desktop, but one example that comes to mind is the sound system. Just try reading the design paper of sndio [1]. It is a pure joy to read. A beautiful architecture. Now compare that with ALSA / PulseAudio / JACK / PipeWire... The audio system in Linux is fragmented and incomprehensible. [1] https://www.openbsd.org/papers/asiabsdcon2010_sndio.pdf
Thanks for the perspective. Audio in Linux can definitely be _ahem_ somewhat flaky.
Re: If you're happy with OpenBSD, probably any computer is good enough
#353Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
It is kind of neat just how little power some of these older systems used. A big part was it was cheaper to make processors that used non-ceramic caps on them - but it limited the amount of power they could use due to thermal dissipation limits. A good example in a similar fashion is the Super Nintendo. The power supply is rated to 7.85 Watts but it only uses roughly half of that when running. I believe the Neo Geo u…
My old Palm Pilot Professional lasted a month on ordinary pen cells. Same with my HP 200LX
Re: If you're happy with OpenBSD, probably any computer is good enough
#354Typing this on my T420 running OpenBSD. It does everything I really need it to do. I don't play (new) games, and I have a more powerful server tucked away here in case I have any CPU-intensive jobs I need done. Honestly after seeing the absolute state of Linux on the desktop over the last decade, there is no reason for me to even consider it any more.
> Honestly after seeing the absolute state of Linux on the desktop over the last decade, there is no reason for me to even consider it any more. What is wrong with Linux on the desktop, and how is OpenBSD better?
[dead]
Re: If you're happy with OpenBSD, probably any computer is good enough
#355Earlier quoted context omitted.
Excellent point. Software testing (not for stability but instead for usability, and certainly not for compiling , lol) ought to be done on minimal-spec systems (the specs of which might possibly be dialed-down further once optimization is done, which would be a bonus). Assuming that a faster system (or one with more RAM or storage) will cure the real problem has allowed all sorts of sloppiness to creep into software.
We once heard a story about how someone optimized their game engine for a crappy old netbook and ended up with some tens of thousands of frames per second on any vaguely modern system. This works. -Emily
as you mention gaming – do you know the doom-in-lego-brick? https://kilograham.github.io/rp2040-doom/ and brick assembly https://youtube.com/watch?v=6wBrOV2FJM8
There are some video links in the (german) article https://heise.de/-7448263. Mind-blowing.
Re: If you're happy with OpenBSD, probably any computer is good enough
#356Kinda sad that the top comment is something about a web browser. There's much more to computers and the internet than web browsers. I use links text-only browser coupled with stunnel or haproxy for TLS. Unlike the "tech" company browsers, this software compiles quickly and easily, it's relatively small and it works great on older computers. Here is what no one is mentioning. Currently, 90% of the world's most advanac…
>There's much more to computers and the internet than web browsers.
For most common people, is there really?
Re: If you're happy with OpenBSD, probably any computer is good enough
#357Earlier quoted context omitted.
Plus Qt isn't free, if I'm not mistaken.
Have you been under a coma since 1997? How's everything?
Whoa. Cool your heels Kimosabe. I said "If I'm not mistaken".
Looking at the rest of the comments I see that Qt core is free, but the rest of it isn't.