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this post was submitted on 10 Jul 2024
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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I feel like with libre/open source software, this is a lot less of a problem -- So long as it is still possible to add it back by messing around under the hood, we are pretty much fine with the "Main" branch of some software dropping legacy support?
It'd be unreasonable to expect the devs of anything to keep supporting things that are over 20 years old.
And like, if you're using 25 year old kit at this point you're either a hobbyist collector of vintage stuff, OR an enterprise with mission-critical assets on old legacy hardware/software -- In either of those scenarios, "figure out how to go under the hood and fix stuff" (or in the enterprise's case, "hire someone who does that for you") is not an unreasonable expectation to have.
The smelly part is of course proprietary software and hardware, where "dropped official support" might as well be the signing of a death order. We desperately need a "right to repair and maintenance" regulation on every country in the world.
I'll add that at this point, if you're a hobbyist collector of vintage computer hardware, and you find satisfaction at making that old Compy 386 run like it's modern hardware, you should know how to compile your own kernel.
Like, it just seems prudent, given the fact that it's unreasonable to expect a "universal" kernel to simply grow and never prune anything (which I think avoiding having a giant kernel was part of the rationale, iirc), and there's plenty of documentation out there on how to do it. If you aren't going to run the same hardware as 95% of your peers, it's your responsibility to make sure your hardware works.
Yeah I mean
Hobbyist collectors of typewriters (I know because my father is one) and cars (one of my friends is one) all have to learn how to maintain and service their own stuff because businesses that did that for them have all but disappeared. It's considered part and parcel of the hobby.
It'd be nuts to expect it to be any different for computer collectors. Compile your own kernels, diagnose your own problems, fix your own shit. That's what you do for a hobby. :P
If you're running something that old, then it is by choice anyway, hardware gets more expensive after a certain age, and you definitely won't be getting a (functional) 90s computer for cheap.