Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Reviving a 15-year-old netbook with Arch Linux

parksb.github.io

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–178 of 178 posts

Re: Reviving a 15-year-old netbook with Arch Linux

#171

Post by tmp10423288442 »

trelane wrote: post #155
internet2000 wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many of those are there? How many compared to the 15 million (mostly) first-and-only-time buyers? Netbooks are almost unique in tech history in how flash-in-the-pan they were. Crypto somehow had more staying power.

The parent was speaking in absolutes, that beyond just didn't work for anybody. A handful of examples is more than sufficient to disprove it. On the other hand, you're arguing that the majority didn't buy it again. I've not seen any proof one way or the other. Do you have some?

I am a Sith - I prefer to speak in absolutes. Hedging is useless - either say what you mean outright, or quantify it if you can’t say it absolutely.

Re: Reviving a 15-year-old netbook with Arch Linux

#172

Post by ClueslessTech99 »

1vuio0pswjnm7 wrote: post #170
dannyw wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could I ask for more information about the specs of the machine you had? Curious what processor, how much RAM it had, and what you did for storage (did you expand it / use external drives?) Fascinated by your experiences here!

May I ask what makes these experiences fascinating Genuinely curious

Using a PC without a GUI is pretty non standard so that's one reason. You mentioned you only used VGA text mode, but what did you actually use it for? What apps did you use etc etc.

Re: Reviving a 15-year-old netbook with Arch Linux

#173

Post by lynguist »

meristohm wrote: post #132
lynguist wrote: post #124

I don't understand the unwarranted and ongoing care and enthusiasm for this category of e-waste that was forcibly put upon us. They came out in 2008, were sold until 2010, had literally less performance than a 2000 Pentium III CPU, were lauded from pundits left and right, and probably the school/hand-me-down laptops of that age (like today's e-waste class Chromebooks). Especially when Acer and whatever had proper lap…

Do you understand the unbridled desire to consume a massive amount of resources to move a human body in a multi-ton knobby-tyred truck from home to school to work to grocery store and back, and to play the flashiest games, to wear shorts inside during the winter, and to talk to robots as if they are friends? I understand that desire, and how, with billions of people having access to such power over enough time, we ar…

Yes, I understand. I wrote it in a too polemic and dismissive way but what I wanted to say is:

- there's a type of "puritan" people that is outright against enjoyment (if not "deserved") (I think you understand what I mean even if I don't go in detail) (and this type of people can often be extremely effective engineers and also managers)

- and that there's a type of engineering that makes disproportionately bad outcomes like a price point that is let's say 15% cheaper but a performance that is 80% lower, and that that shouldn't be lauded

Re: Reviving a 15-year-old netbook with Arch Linux

#174

Post by 1vuio0pswjnm7 »

1vuio0pswjnm7 wrote: post #170
dannyw wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could I ask for more information about the specs of the machine you had? Curious what processor, how much RAM it had, and what you did for storage (did you expand it / use external drives?) Fascinated by your experiences here!

May I ask what makes these experiences fascinating Genuinely curious

Using a computer without a GUI, i.e., nographics, is standard practice when using networked computers. A majority of computers today are connected to networks

This nographics computer is called a "router"

This computer may only be used for limited purposes, hence the names. But its use is standard

A "router" can be used as a nographics "general purpose computer", i.e., it can be used for more than just routing packets

A "general purpose computer", graphics or nographics, can also be used as a "router", e.g., by enabling packet forwarding in the kernel

Re: Reviving a 15-year-old netbook with Arch Linux

#175

Post by SuspectTurtle »

MayeulC wrote: post #47

I still use my Samsung n130, though I went with Alpine after Arch dropped support for 32 bit (there were a few pain points with Arch 32 in the early days, I tried guix but it was too slow and guix uses a lot of RAM during updates). It works decently, is sufficient for ssh-ing into other hosts. Though web browsing is a pain. I used to mostly use Dillo and elinks, MPV+yt-dlp for videos. Unfortunately I left it sit for…

I am very attached to my n130 and still use it daily. I'm still running Debian 12 because they dropped 32bit support for 13. Coupled with i3 window manager and i get by with it. If you do attempt a USB-C mod let me know how it goes! It's something I've also considered.

Re: Reviving a 15-year-old netbook with Arch Linux

#176

Post by MayeulC »

SuspectTurtle wrote: post #175
MayeulC wrote: post #47

I still use my Samsung n130, though I went with Alpine after Arch dropped support for 32 bit (there were a few pain points with Arch 32 in the early days, I tried guix but it was too slow and guix uses a lot of RAM during updates). It works decently, is sufficient for ssh-ing into other hosts. Though web browsing is a pain. I used to mostly use Dillo and elinks, MPV+yt-dlp for videos. Unfortunately I left it sit for…

I am very attached to my n130 and still use it daily. I'm still running Debian 12 because they dropped 32bit support for 13. Coupled with i3 window manager and i get by with it. If you do attempt a USB-C mod let me know how it goes! It's something I've also considered.

Sure! I ordered the necessary part years ago, but didn't get around to do it yet. Having someone else interested may finally motivate me.

Please leave some contact info on your HN profile (or use mine), so that I can let you know.

Re: Reviving a 15-year-old netbook with Arch Linux

#177

Post by SuspectTurtle »

MayeulC wrote: post #176
SuspectTurtle wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am very attached to my n130 and still use it daily. I'm still running Debian 12 because they dropped 32bit support for 13. Coupled with i3 window manager and i get by with it. If you do attempt a USB-C mod let me know how it goes! It's something I've also considered.

Sure! I ordered the necessary part years ago, but didn't get around to do it yet. Having someone else interested may finally motivate me. Please leave some contact info on your HN profile (or use mine), so that I can let you know.

I actually created an account just to reply to your comment because I was so excited to see another N130 user. I'll be sure to fill out my profile at some point

Re: Reviving a 15-year-old netbook with Arch Linux

#178

Post by DiggyJohnson »

2b3a51 wrote: post #133
DiggyJohnson wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

would love to see twm get active again as well

Have a look at MWM (Motif Window Manager). Colour icons (gasp) and windows that actually maximise. Packaged in Debian so I suppose around in Arch repositories somewhere.

Thanks!
Post reply on HN