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Opinion: It is unfortunate that msys2 is ending support for Windows 7
I want to preface this by saying I absolutely understand that I, nor any users of free software, are entitled to support of any kind. I understand that if I want something done/a new feature/etc, it's up to me alone to do it; no one is obligated to do it for me. That being said...
I understand that supporting antiquated systems is a burden for developers, but it is my opinion that every system, regardless of how outdated, is deserving of at the very least a functional POSIX environment. Regardless of age, people are going to want to develop on, and for, these machines. People are going to want to cherish and use these machines, maybe to prevent e-waste, maybe just because it makes them feel nice. Maybe because the system is just perfect for them, and everything newer feels like a downgrade in minor, but meaningful ways.
A shell, GNU tools, and a package manager are together the best and easiest way to achieve a useful, unified work environment across a wide variety of systems, old and new, making this sort of project especially useful on these outdated systems. It is true that with time less and less people are going to want to use these systems, and support for a wide variety of software such as web browsers, production suites, and developer tools will end, but due to this reason most of the people using such systems are going to look towards projects like msys2 to squeeze that extra lifespan out of their machines.
Essentially I'm saying that while obsolete systems have fewer users, tools like msys2 become far more important and useful to that handful of users. I don't know how many computers will end up in a landfill strictly because msys2 doesn't work, but that number is certainly not zero.
- al2o3cr 3y agoAs in the recent dropping-Itanium discussion, what's the goal of trying to run the _newest_ versions of things on ancient environments? Nothing about the msys2 that's available right now will be different for Windows 7 setups in the future...