6 ms·

this is bazonkers 'use low energy software' isn't that simple me just being a person in the zoom era uses a combination of a windows gaming rig, an old mac fo

this is bazonkers 'use low energy software' isn't that simple me just being a person in the zoom era uses a combination of a windows gaming rig, an old mac for video conferencing, a new mac for xcode, and a linux laptop so I don't hate myself the best tools don't work at all on old hardware. your time isn't free we would need to legislate open APIs for every commercial service before it would be reasonable for tech professionals to use old stuff only open source can work on old hardware also 'replace old HDDs with SSDs' -- this tech only gets developed + exists because of the volume of laptops being produced. you can't benefit from a corrupt system and pretend to be outside it

gruez 6y ago
>the best tools don't work at all on old hardware. your time isn't free What types of tools are you talking about? You're probably not going to be able to compile the linux kernel in 1 minute flat using an old laptop, but your average webdev workload will work just fine >also 'replace old HDDs with SSDs' -- this tech only gets developed + exists because of the volume of laptops being produced. you can't benefit from a corrupt system and pretend to be outside it Strange, I distinctly remember SSDs being common as an aftermarket upgrade way before it became a standard option on consumer laptops.
- awinter-py 6y ago
  I'm talking about every new commercial software offering. Anything for editing videos. Probably blender. Anything that uses a GPU will have limited legacy support. Every game. Anything for architecture or engineering (OSS here is not so good, possible exception of electronics CAD). I used 2 copies of the same phone for 4 years with open + closed source android -- the open source worked perfectly but had no commercial apps, the google android degraded on an upgrade cadence but had commercial offerings I say this as someone who uses linux as my primary desktop, hates every moment on a commercial OS, and interacts with OSS for ethical reasons -- the economy is not building for it. Many hands make light work, and there are more hands in commercial software.
voltagex_ 6y ago
also assumes you can physically lift a 2+kg laptop and have the dexterity+skill to do your own repairs.
maximente 6y ago
yeah, most "gamer" culture inspires absurdly wasteful habits, spec porn, etc. so that's probably not in alignment, and the windows tax is no joke either - it's delicious that their mondo data hoovering burns up your own cpu cycles, but neither here nor there. that said, i'm still using an amd phenom II x4 bought in 2010 and manage hacking on clojure, golang, and odds and ends fairly well as a software consultant. arch, xmonad, emacs, and firefox are my "stack". similar to you, i also have a macbook air from 2013 for meet and zoom (and non cloud iphone backup :) ), so not quite as old as this person but certainly don't need a new one any time soon. love the blog btw
- awinter-py 6y ago
  thank you! yeah, that old mac air is really pulling its weight IMO the web stack is best on old hardware -- it's designed to handle massive load at scale and has the most attention to pure build tool performance when I was pure web dev, I could use just the linux laptop too.
  - photojosh 6y ago
    > Anything for editing videos. Probably blender. I got my now-high school kid an old Macbook Air (made sure to get 8GB RAM) for US$300. He's been experimenting with Blender and video editing (FCPX, make sure to render proxy files!) Sure, that's "only" 7 years old, but it's fine?
xenocyon 6y ago
> me just being a person in the zoom era uses a combination of a windows gaming rig, an old mac for video conferencing, a new mac for xcode, and a linux laptop so I don't hate myself I'm typing this comment on a Thinkpad X230 - not quite as old as the X60s, but still the better part of a decade old. It can perform most tasks quite adequately. The real problem is getting spare parts for it; replacing the battery, for instance, was quite the fishing expedition, and I eventually had to settle for a bulky 9-cell instead of the smaller 6-cell I had previously enjoyed. So there are some downsides to be sure.
- awinter-py 6y ago
  I intentionally bought the cheapest and slowest laptop that can run low-spec commercial VR software. Same for xcode. If your thinkpad can do both of those things it has a market value of $2500 and I'll buy it from you
  - xenocyon 6y ago
    You're correct; my comment may have overstated the case. I reworded it to say "most tasks quite adequately".
- reasonabl_human 6y ago
  If you’re having trouble finding a battery due to OEM only choices, here’s an anecdote that may help: I used thinkwiki years ago to get info on flashing the embedded controller firmware of my T430s to a patched version that didn’t query batteries for authenticity, opening up a whole new world of prior gen and cheap aftermarket battery compatibility... perhaps the same can be done with your X230?

gruez 6y ago

>the best tools don't work at all on old hardware. your time isn't free What types of tools are you talking about? You're probably not going to be able to compile the linux kernel in 1 minute flat using an old laptop, but your average webdev workload will work just fine >also 'replace old HDDs with SSDs' -- this tech only gets developed + exists because of the volume of laptops being produced. you can't benefit from a corrupt system and pretend to be outside it Strange, I distinctly remember SSDs being common as an aftermarket upgrade way before it became a standard option on consumer laptops.

awinter-py 6y ago
I'm talking about every new commercial software offering. Anything for editing videos. Probably blender. Anything that uses a GPU will have limited legacy support. Every game. Anything for architecture or engineering (OSS here is not so good, possible exception of electronics CAD). I used 2 copies of the same phone for 4 years with open + closed source android -- the open source worked perfectly but had no commercial apps, the google android degraded on an upgrade cadence but had commercial offerings I say this as someone who uses linux as my primary desktop, hates every moment on a commercial OS, and interacts with OSS for ethical reasons -- the economy is not building for it. Many hands make light work, and there are more hands in commercial software.

voltagex_ 6y ago

also assumes you can physically lift a 2+kg laptop and have the dexterity+skill to do your own repairs.

maximente 6y ago

yeah, most "gamer" culture inspires absurdly wasteful habits, spec porn, etc. so that's probably not in alignment, and the windows tax is no joke either - it's delicious that their mondo data hoovering burns up your own cpu cycles, but neither here nor there. that said, i'm still using an amd phenom II x4 bought in 2010 and manage hacking on clojure, golang, and odds and ends fairly well as a software consultant. arch, xmonad, emacs, and firefox are my "stack". similar to you, i also have a macbook air from 2013 for meet and zoom (and non cloud iphone backup :) ), so not quite as old as this person but certainly don't need a new one any time soon. love the blog btw

awinter-py 6y ago
thank you! yeah, that old mac air is really pulling its weight IMO the web stack is best on old hardware -- it's designed to handle massive load at scale and has the most attention to pure build tool performance when I was pure web dev, I could use just the linux laptop too.
- photojosh 6y ago
  > Anything for editing videos. Probably blender. I got my now-high school kid an old Macbook Air (made sure to get 8GB RAM) for US$300. He's been experimenting with Blender and video editing (FCPX, make sure to render proxy files!) Sure, that's "only" 7 years old, but it's fine?

xenocyon 6y ago

> me just being a person in the zoom era uses a combination of a windows gaming rig, an old mac for video conferencing, a new mac for xcode, and a linux laptop so I don't hate myself I'm typing this comment on a Thinkpad X230 - not quite as old as the X60s, but still the better part of a decade old. It can perform most tasks quite adequately. The real problem is getting spare parts for it; replacing the battery, for instance, was quite the fishing expedition, and I eventually had to settle for a bulky 9-cell instead of the smaller 6-cell I had previously enjoyed. So there are some downsides to be sure.

awinter-py 6y ago
I intentionally bought the cheapest and slowest laptop that can run low-spec commercial VR software. Same for xcode. If your thinkpad can do both of those things it has a market value of $2500 and I'll buy it from you
- xenocyon 6y ago
  You're correct; my comment may have overstated the case. I reworded it to say "most tasks quite adequately".
reasonabl_human 6y ago
If you’re having trouble finding a battery due to OEM only choices, here’s an anecdote that may help: I used thinkwiki years ago to get info on flashing the embedded controller firmware of my T430s to a patched version that didn’t query batteries for authenticity, opening up a whole new world of prior gen and cheap aftermarket battery compatibility... perhaps the same can be done with your X230?