3 ms·

No there's a simple reasons actually: we have surrendered entirely to web based apps & the resulting ad bloat. You used to buy a computer, install an OS, buy a

No there's a simple reasons actually: we have surrendered entirely to web based apps & the resulting ad bloat. You used to buy a computer, install an OS, buy apps and run them. Neither the OS nor the apps didn't suddenly degraded themselves with "free update" that were developed targeting newer & newer machines. You bought a new computer when new software you wanted to buy wouldn't run fast enough on it, OR the computer died. Nowadays, you buy a new computer when the same software you've been running for years or the OS itself that demands to be updated "free" makes your machine intolerably slow. Funny how that all worked out.

zahlman 2mo ago
> Nowadays, you buy a new computer when the same software you've been running for years or the OS itself that demands to be updated "free" makes your machine intolerably slow. This is, in my experience, not a thing on Linux.
- jambalaya8 2mo ago
  Sort of a thing on linux (and bsd) but not as often. An example is the mostly end of 32-bit computing, since 64-bit computing requires far more resources/RAM (arguably, some of that can be ameliorated with swapping, but it is wayyy less good). Or the way so many people were on netbooks and the growing monolithic kernel kind of made the default gig or two of RAM less and less doable (I guess non-consumer-modifiable tablets and mostly soldered and increasingly locked down chromebooks took over most of that market, but it feels like people just take storage space, memory management, and hardware for granted, now).
  - zahlman 2mo ago
    I mean, 64-bit computing at most doubles memory requirements, and there have been many other things motivating a doubling since the days of 32-bit computing. (And even more so since the days of 16-bit computing. For example: high-resolution, full colour monitors.)
    - jambalaya8 2mo ago
      yes, but x64 requirement made the sorta standard low-end laptop ram amount of 2-4 gigabytes of sdram suddenly a "new minimum" of 4-8 gigabytes of sdram, even for linux, unless you optimize, and even then you kind of need 4gb.
      - LargoLasskhyfv 2mo ago
        There is the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X32_ABI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X32_ABI for AMD64 at least. But it's looking rather bitrotten and is frowned upon by the snobs. Nobody is using it. Justine Tunney's https://www.justinetunney.com/ https://www.justinetunney.com/ APE and Cosmopolitan libc shows what's possible, though. https://www.justinetunney.com/cosmo3/ https://www.justinetunney.com/cosmo3/ https://www.justinetunney.com/ape.html https://www.justinetunney.com/ape.html https://www.justinetunney.com/matmul/ https://www.justinetunney.com/matmul/ And then there is vibecoded stuff like https://isene.org/chasm/ https://isene.org/chasm/ I think there is much more to be expected coming from that direction, overthrowing decades old cargo-cults :-)

zahlman 2mo ago

> Nowadays, you buy a new computer when the same software you've been running for years or the OS itself that demands to be updated "free" makes your machine intolerably slow. This is, in my experience, not a thing on Linux.

jambalaya8 2mo ago
Sort of a thing on linux (and bsd) but not as often. An example is the mostly end of 32-bit computing, since 64-bit computing requires far more resources/RAM (arguably, some of that can be ameliorated with swapping, but it is wayyy less good). Or the way so many people were on netbooks and the growing monolithic kernel kind of made the default gig or two of RAM less and less doable (I guess non-consumer-modifiable tablets and mostly soldered and increasingly locked down chromebooks took over most of that market, but it feels like people just take storage space, memory management, and hardware for granted, now).
- zahlman 2mo ago
  I mean, 64-bit computing at most doubles memory requirements, and there have been many other things motivating a doubling since the days of 32-bit computing. (And even more so since the days of 16-bit computing. For example: high-resolution, full colour monitors.)
  - jambalaya8 2mo ago
    yes, but x64 requirement made the sorta standard low-end laptop ram amount of 2-4 gigabytes of sdram suddenly a "new minimum" of 4-8 gigabytes of sdram, even for linux, unless you optimize, and even then you kind of need 4gb.
    - LargoLasskhyfv 2mo ago
      There is the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X32_ABI https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X32_ABI for AMD64 at least. But it's looking rather bitrotten and is frowned upon by the snobs. Nobody is using it. Justine Tunney's https://www.justinetunney.com/ https://www.justinetunney.com/ APE and Cosmopolitan libc shows what's possible, though. https://www.justinetunney.com/cosmo3/ https://www.justinetunney.com/cosmo3/ https://www.justinetunney.com/ape.html https://www.justinetunney.com/ape.html https://www.justinetunney.com/matmul/ https://www.justinetunney.com/matmul/ And then there is vibecoded stuff like https://isene.org/chasm/ https://isene.org/chasm/ I think there is much more to be expected coming from that direction, overthrowing decades old cargo-cults :-)