PSA
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@mastosalo What I do with old computers is install Linux on them and give them away. Folks are hesitant because they only know windows so I start it up and show them. They're generally amazed.
Yes. I booted an old Compaq with Porteus Linux flashdrive the other day. My friend could not believe his eyes.
He said that he couldn't believe that was happening. Then I proceeded to show similar task with Tiny Core Linux. Only faster.
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@mastosalo I MISS people actually wanting help with computer stuff rather than just throwing it away and buying a new one or paying someone corporate way too much to do way too little/way too much/the wrong thing.
The 2003 Dell probably is obsolete though.
It may be usable in some form, but I'm gonna go ahead and call it here. Yes it is obsolete for gaming and for example youtube, but I was today online with a Compaq Presario 2100 laptop running Puppy Linux. It still works for basic browsing and can be used to ,idk, teach a thing or two for someone.
But not splitting hairs here, just making a point.
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Yes it is obsolete for gaming and for example youtube, but I was today online with a Compaq Presario 2100 laptop running Puppy Linux. It still works for basic browsing and can be used to ,idk, teach a thing or two for someone.
But not splitting hairs here, just making a point.
@mastosalo I mean, I speak partially tongue-in-cheek in that. Still, you can get a lot running but it just isn't really worth it at that point. Saving old hardware is a plus, but I just don't think using a 2003 system for 2026 software is worth doing.
(Now, running retro stuff on it is a different story, but then that would be obsolete by definition — just still useful.)
But I don't really truly disagree with your point. As I said, it was partially tongue in cheek.
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PSA
To whomever this may concern and to get you a break from the international news:
Your daily driver Windows computer is not obsolete after October 13th 2026. And above all it is NOT E-waste.
Your Apple computer is not E-waste if Tim Cook says so.
Chances are that even the beige DELL tower from 2003, which is currently holding the barn door open, is not obsolete.
And if you have an old/broken computer: please sell or donate it. If nothing else, someone can learn to solder working on it.
Contact your local IT nerd for further questions. The one with an Atari or Amiga T-shirt. Someone you know will know one.
You can also contact IT nerds here in the fediverse. Almost all of us are here.
#RightToRepair #AlternativeOperatingSystems #OperatingSystems #OS #OpenBSD #FreeBSD #NetBSD #Linux #HaikuOS #Windows #Apple #PowerPC #BeOS #Ubuntu #LinuxMint #Vic20 #Commodore64 #Amiga #ComputerClubs #Learning #OldComputersAreNotE_Waste #PCB #VintageComputing #RetroComputing #Refurbishers
Perhaps wipe the 'operating system' and install Linux
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@mastosalo I mean, I speak partially tongue-in-cheek in that. Still, you can get a lot running but it just isn't really worth it at that point. Saving old hardware is a plus, but I just don't think using a 2003 system for 2026 software is worth doing.
(Now, running retro stuff on it is a different story, but then that would be obsolete by definition — just still useful.)
But I don't really truly disagree with your point. As I said, it was partially tongue in cheek.
I agree that a 2003 system is probably obsolete for daily driving use BUT if it has 512MB of ram it could be repurposed into something like a pihole.
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PSA
To whomever this may concern and to get you a break from the international news:
Your daily driver Windows computer is not obsolete after October 13th 2026. And above all it is NOT E-waste.
Your Apple computer is not E-waste if Tim Cook says so.
Chances are that even the beige DELL tower from 2003, which is currently holding the barn door open, is not obsolete.
And if you have an old/broken computer: please sell or donate it. If nothing else, someone can learn to solder working on it.
Contact your local IT nerd for further questions. The one with an Atari or Amiga T-shirt. Someone you know will know one.
You can also contact IT nerds here in the fediverse. Almost all of us are here.
#RightToRepair #AlternativeOperatingSystems #OperatingSystems #OS #OpenBSD #FreeBSD #NetBSD #Linux #HaikuOS #Windows #Apple #PowerPC #BeOS #Ubuntu #LinuxMint #Vic20 #Commodore64 #Amiga #ComputerClubs #Learning #OldComputersAreNotE_Waste #PCB #VintageComputing #RetroComputing #Refurbishers
@mastosalo the “if Tim Cook says so.” Made me think of “Unpretty” by TLC which is fitting.
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I agree that a 2003 system is probably obsolete for daily driving use BUT if it has 512MB of ram it could be repurposed into something like a pihole.
@RantingCanuck @mastosalo Oh I didn't say it would be useless. Just that it would be obsolete.
A use could absolutely be found for it.
-
PSA
To whomever this may concern and to get you a break from the international news:
Your daily driver Windows computer is not obsolete after October 13th 2026. And above all it is NOT E-waste.
Your Apple computer is not E-waste if Tim Cook says so.
Chances are that even the beige DELL tower from 2003, which is currently holding the barn door open, is not obsolete.
And if you have an old/broken computer: please sell or donate it. If nothing else, someone can learn to solder working on it.
Contact your local IT nerd for further questions. The one with an Atari or Amiga T-shirt. Someone you know will know one.
You can also contact IT nerds here in the fediverse. Almost all of us are here.
#RightToRepair #AlternativeOperatingSystems #OperatingSystems #OS #OpenBSD #FreeBSD #NetBSD #Linux #HaikuOS #Windows #Apple #PowerPC #BeOS #Ubuntu #LinuxMint #Vic20 #Commodore64 #Amiga #ComputerClubs #Learning #OldComputersAreNotE_Waste #PCB #VintageComputing #RetroComputing #Refurbishers
@mastosalo I really gotta fix my old Dell box, it's got the capacitor plague.
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@mastosalo I really gotta fix my old Dell box, it's got the capacitor plague.
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PSA
To whomever this may concern and to get you a break from the international news:
Your daily driver Windows computer is not obsolete after October 13th 2026. And above all it is NOT E-waste.
Your Apple computer is not E-waste if Tim Cook says so.
Chances are that even the beige DELL tower from 2003, which is currently holding the barn door open, is not obsolete.
And if you have an old/broken computer: please sell or donate it. If nothing else, someone can learn to solder working on it.
Contact your local IT nerd for further questions. The one with an Atari or Amiga T-shirt. Someone you know will know one.
You can also contact IT nerds here in the fediverse. Almost all of us are here.
#RightToRepair #AlternativeOperatingSystems #OperatingSystems #OS #OpenBSD #FreeBSD #NetBSD #Linux #HaikuOS #Windows #Apple #PowerPC #BeOS #Ubuntu #LinuxMint #Vic20 #Commodore64 #Amiga #ComputerClubs #Learning #OldComputersAreNotE_Waste #PCB #VintageComputing #RetroComputing #Refurbishers
@mastosalo Still watching all our TV on our 2003 Dell tower btw… and it has a DVD drive! (They are strange plastic discs carrying data 🤯).
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@mastosalo I MISS people actually wanting help with computer stuff rather than just throwing it away and buying a new one or paying someone corporate way too much to do way too little/way too much/the wrong thing.
The 2003 Dell probably is obsolete though.
It may be usable in some form, but I'm gonna go ahead and call it here. @nazokiyoubinbou @mastosalo I really apreciate the call!
I got several PC in our household. None will fit the requirements to run Win11 as MS expects. I even got a dell latitude D820 (maybe from 2003) that does perfectly the job for my slide scanner. (And another Dell desktop I am using since 2009 as media server.) -
@mastosalo Still watching all our TV on our 2003 Dell tower btw… and it has a DVD drive! (They are strange plastic discs carrying data 🤯).
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@mastosalo I MISS people actually wanting help with computer stuff rather than just throwing it away and buying a new one or paying someone corporate way too much to do way too little/way too much/the wrong thing.
The 2003 Dell probably is obsolete though.
It may be usable in some form, but I'm gonna go ahead and call it here. @nazokiyoubinbou @mastosalo 2003 might be a bit too old, but my HP ProBook from around 2010 works just fine. Of course I have another newer laptop to carry with me for representational purposes.
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@mastosalo the “if Tim Cook says so.” Made me think of “Unpretty” by TLC which is fitting.
@jonschwenn @mastosalo
You can upgrade if it won't go
Forced to update when Tim says so
You can install all the apps that Apple approves
But if you can look inside it
Know how to unbrick it
Be in a position to make it
Be so damn unshitty -
@nazokiyoubinbou @mastosalo I really apreciate the call!
I got several PC in our household. None will fit the requirements to run Win11 as MS expects. I even got a dell latitude D820 (maybe from 2003) that does perfectly the job for my slide scanner. (And another Dell desktop I am using since 2009 as media server.)@realSiegfried @mastosalo The only requirement Windows 11 has over its predecessor is TPM 2.0, which is so arbitrary and meaningless and unrelated to the actual hardware in any meaningful way that Windows 11 is utterly useless as a metric for... anything.
I call a 2003 system obsolete in that the lack of RAM, the single core CPU, etc etc, all come together to make a system that will make running anything resembling complex modern software (like browsers) pain itself.
There is still potential use for them of course! Besides period software (some of which is still useful,) simpler things (such as scanning stuff as you mentioned) can still be done. Someone else mentioned using one as a PiHole and yeah, there's a lot of other such things. But run the latest Firefox and you'll cry.
