5 ms·

Ask HN: I have an old 32-bit laptop. Should I keep it up and running?

10 points by cyb0rg0 5y ago

Is it worth the time and effort to keep it up and running or dump the ancient system and get myself a new one?

giantg2 5y ago
My laptop is 32 bit. I replaced the hard drive with an SSD. Thing runs well except for some minor compatibility issues since some software is only being released for 64 bit now.
alexshendi 5y ago
I wanted to chime in. A possible use for a 32 bit x86 machine is to install FreeDOS to be able to run old games or applications. But that's for you to decide.
mrvenkman 5y ago
Get a new system. But definitely keep the old laptop.
gradschool 5y ago
If it's pre-2006 then it doesn't have the Intel Management Engine, which might be worthwhile depending on your threat model.
posguy 5y ago
$200 will get you a machine that performs way better and can last much longer on battery: https://slickdeals.net/f/15646300-new-customers-hp-laptop-ryzen-3-3250u-15-6-1080p-ips-8gb-ram-256gb-ssd-200-w-text-coupon-in-store-only-at-microcenter https://slickdeals.net/f/15646300-new-customers-hp-laptop-ry... Alternatively, you could go all in on security and buy a T400 for $100, spend another $100 to $200 upgrading its CPU, Screen, RAM, SSD and battery, then Libreboot it: https://libreboot.org/docs/hardware/t400.html https://libreboot.org/docs/hardware/t400.html
kbn 5y ago
Give it to someone that might need it like a student who can't afford to buy laptop
GianFabien 5y ago
I wouldn't use it as my primary system. But I do keep some of my old laptops to perform experiments on. e.g. running minimal NetBSD, Alpine Linux, etc. My primary system is a beefy desktop running Debian Bullseye. I'm wary of installing unproved software on it. So I first install unfamiliar software on a spare laptop, sometimes with a clean OS install. If the software works as desired then I install it onto my primary system.
- thrtythreeforty 5y ago
  I'm curious - do you like virtualization?
  - cyb0rg0 5y ago
    Yes I do.
Minor49er 5y ago
Do you use it for anything that you couldn't do better on a newer laptop?
to-lose-letrec 5y ago
Well, I have some thin clients kicking around that are used as "terminals" for much more modern servers. Since all they have to do is either netboot or run a VNC client, they work great. That's one possible use.
mikewarot 5y ago
If you get rid of it, In about 30 years you're going to have pangs of nostalgia and want it back. If you keep it and don't use it, you'll never feel those pangs. As with the migration from 8 to 16 to 32 bits, most software won't support 32 bits in 5-10 years.
WheelsAtLarge 5y ago
It all comes down to you. Recent software on old hardware is most likely slow and hard to maintain, if it can be run at all. So to me it wouldn't be worth it. But if you want to run old software that meets your needs then it's ok. I've heard of an author that used Wordperfect to write. He loved the fact that he could not get distracted by other software and he loved using the word processor to write. Old hardware worked for him.
chem83 5y ago
32-bits is hard. I keep a Vaio P around out of nostalgia, but my options to keep it working are increasingly disappearing. Chrome OS Flex won't run on 32-bits, Arch 32-bits is a now a second tier distro at best (most AUR packages are not compiled to i686 or pentium4) etc. Unless this is a special piece of hardware--and not just yet another generic laptop--do yourself a favor and get it recycled.
- zozbot234 5y ago
  Debian still works very well on 32 bit. There will probably be an unofficial "port" even after they finally discontinue official support.
KYhu 5y ago
Keep it for future nostalgia.
princevegeta89 5y ago
Install a light Linux distro on it and keep it running in a corner of your house or the garage. Use it like your own personal box for computing/plex/NAS etc.
Osiris 5y ago
Depends on your use case. I have an old Dell D830 that I kept around because it has an actual serial port on it and I use it to connect to my router console. Yes, I could have ordered a USB serial adapter but I like having that computer just sitting next the router anytime I needed to mess with it. From experience I can tell you that if you need to browse the modern web, older machines will struggle a lot unless you do things like turn off JavaScript or use speciality browsers designed for low power machines. If you just want a machine to run vim and write code, go for it. So it really depends on what you need it to do.
muzani 5y ago
No. My wife has one. It doesn't even run YouTube anymore. Old laptops were a lot sturdier, though. Hers has outlasted about 3 of my high end ones. Good luck finding replacement parts, though.
SamReidHughes 5y ago
Get a new laptop if you need a new laptop. Maintaining a Linux installation on old laptops gets old, and in the end, I stopped doing that and wiped the hard drives.
- FerretFred 5y ago
  I agree. We donated an old but very serviceable Asus Netbook to my elderly relative, then went through the pain of trying to find a distro that would run on it. Prior to that it ran (strolled) Windows 7. I eventually ended up installing Porteus Kiosk which actually runs very nicely on the Netbook and has the added benefit of being granny-proof.

10 points by cyb0rg0 5y ago

Is it worth the time and effort to keep it up and running or dump the ancient system and get myself a new one?

My laptop is 32 bit. I replaced the hard drive with an SSD. Thing runs well except for some minor compatibility issues since some software is only being released for 64 bit now.

alexshendi 5y ago

I wanted to chime in. A possible use for a 32 bit x86 machine is to install FreeDOS to be able to run old games or applications. But that's for you to decide.

mrvenkman 5y ago

Get a new system. But definitely keep the old laptop.

gradschool 5y ago

If it's pre-2006 then it doesn't have the Intel Management Engine, which might be worthwhile depending on your threat model.

posguy 5y ago

$200 will get you a machine that performs way better and can last much longer on battery: https://slickdeals.net/f/15646300-new-customers-hp-laptop-ryzen-3-3250u-15-6-1080p-ips-8gb-ram-256gb-ssd-200-w-text-coupon-in-store-only-at-microcenter https://slickdeals.net/f/15646300-new-customers-hp-laptop-ry... Alternatively, you could go all in on security and buy a T400 for $100, spend another $100 to $200 upgrading its CPU, Screen, RAM, SSD and battery, then Libreboot it: https://libreboot.org/docs/hardware/t400.html https://libreboot.org/docs/hardware/t400.html

kbn 5y ago

Give it to someone that might need it like a student who can't afford to buy laptop

GianFabien 5y ago

I wouldn't use it as my primary system. But I do keep some of my old laptops to perform experiments on. e.g. running minimal NetBSD, Alpine Linux, etc. My primary system is a beefy desktop running Debian Bullseye. I'm wary of installing unproved software on it. So I first install unfamiliar software on a spare laptop, sometimes with a clean OS install. If the software works as desired then I install it onto my primary system.

thrtythreeforty 5y ago
I'm curious - do you like virtualization?
- cyb0rg0 5y ago
  Yes I do.

Minor49er 5y ago

Do you use it for anything that you couldn't do better on a newer laptop?

to-lose-letrec 5y ago

Well, I have some thin clients kicking around that are used as "terminals" for much more modern servers. Since all they have to do is either netboot or run a VNC client, they work great. That's one possible use.

mikewarot 5y ago

If you get rid of it, In about 30 years you're going to have pangs of nostalgia and want it back. If you keep it and don't use it, you'll never feel those pangs. As with the migration from 8 to 16 to 32 bits, most software won't support 32 bits in 5-10 years.

WheelsAtLarge 5y ago

It all comes down to you. Recent software on old hardware is most likely slow and hard to maintain, if it can be run at all. So to me it wouldn't be worth it. But if you want to run old software that meets your needs then it's ok. I've heard of an author that used Wordperfect to write. He loved the fact that he could not get distracted by other software and he loved using the word processor to write. Old hardware worked for him.

chem83 5y ago

32-bits is hard. I keep a Vaio P around out of nostalgia, but my options to keep it working are increasingly disappearing. Chrome OS Flex won't run on 32-bits, Arch 32-bits is a now a second tier distro at best (most AUR packages are not compiled to i686 or pentium4) etc. Unless this is a special piece of hardware--and not just yet another generic laptop--do yourself a favor and get it recycled.

zozbot234 5y ago
Debian still works very well on 32 bit. There will probably be an unofficial "port" even after they finally discontinue official support.

KYhu 5y ago

Keep it for future nostalgia.

princevegeta89 5y ago

Install a light Linux distro on it and keep it running in a corner of your house or the garage. Use it like your own personal box for computing/plex/NAS etc.

Osiris 5y ago

Depends on your use case. I have an old Dell D830 that I kept around because it has an actual serial port on it and I use it to connect to my router console. Yes, I could have ordered a USB serial adapter but I like having that computer just sitting next the router anytime I needed to mess with it. From experience I can tell you that if you need to browse the modern web, older machines will struggle a lot unless you do things like turn off JavaScript or use speciality browsers designed for low power machines. If you just want a machine to run vim and write code, go for it. So it really depends on what you need it to do.

muzani 5y ago

No. My wife has one. It doesn't even run YouTube anymore. Old laptops were a lot sturdier, though. Hers has outlasted about 3 of my high end ones. Good luck finding replacement parts, though.

SamReidHughes 5y ago

Get a new laptop if you need a new laptop. Maintaining a Linux installation on old laptops gets old, and in the end, I stopped doing that and wiped the hard drives.

FerretFred 5y ago
I agree. We donated an old but very serviceable Asus Netbook to my elderly relative, then went through the pain of trying to find a distro that would run on it. Prior to that it ran (strolled) Windows 7. I eventually ended up installing Porteus Kiosk which actually runs very nicely on the Netbook and has the added benefit of being granny-proof.