On 6/2/23 8:34 AM, Mario Marietto wrote:
You may argue that developing for a small number of old computers isn't worth trying. But,first of all,I think that there are a LOT of old PCs in the world,since poor people aren't only a niche.
Nor are they the only ones using antiquated hardware, or expecting new hardware to remain in service until it physically deteriorates to the point of unreliability.
Some of us are Luddites, and damn proud of it. Earlier this year, I finished a months-long project of obtaining a notebook computer old enough to be viable as a DOSbook (IBM PC-DOS 2000, with no WinDoze whatsoever), and configuring it as such, precisely so that I would once again have backup hardware, and mobile capability, for my DOS applications. As a replacement for my dying "bionic desk lamp" iMac, I eschewed both WinDoze and Mac, in favor of a System76 Meerkat, precisely because a state-of-the-art Linux system would presumably have a nice long lifespan.
I don't trade in my automobiles for new models; I keep them until it's time to have them hauled off to their final rusting places. And I spend my Saturdays docenting at the International Printing Museum, where I frequently operate presses and linecasting equipment that is nearly as old, or older, than I am, some of which was already decades old before I was born.
Luddites of the World Unite! You have nothing to lose but your upgrade treadmills, and Linux and DOS are your friends!
-- JHHL