second-hand computers and free software

degrowther wrote in:

=> "Hello small internet"

I was recently discussing these concepts with a friend who works in tech (like me), and I framed degrowth in terms of the internet. Sure, our processors are faster and bandwidth higher than they used to be, but the web doesn’t feel any faster because virtually all of these improvements have been dedicated to serving and rendering ads and unnecessary UI elements.

This is why I've been using secondhand/refurbished computers the last few years. My main desktop was manufactured in 2012. Maybe I didn't need to replace the hard drive with a SSD and max out the RAM at 32GB, but as long as the CPU fan and PSU don't burn out I suspect I'll be able to keep using this computer for at least another decade or two. As long as my current display holds out, or I can get a secondhand replacement that takes an HDMI cable, I should be fine. The same goes for my laptop, a secondhand Thinkpad T60 from 2007. Again, I maxed out the RAM and replaced the hard drive with a SSD. As I shift more toward doing everything in GNU Emacs, I find the notion of buying a new computer less attractive.

Hopefully there will still be a BSD operating system or GNU/Linux distribution that supports my hardware in 2041.