Benrob0329

There's a part of me that always wants to get rid of all the high tech computers in my life and live off of a super low power laptop with a B&W LCD that runs some Linux or BSD variant in text mode.

It probably stems from my love of retro computing and 80s/90s laptops, but also the notion of tech minimalism and future proofness.

If I can do it with less, then why shouldn't I?

#tech #linux #bsd #techminimalism

Jan 5 at 3:22pmWeb
Show threadBenrob0329Jan 5

The funny thing is that I don't think my hobbies would change much.

Music, writing, chatrooms, fedi, blogs, etc, all function perfectly fine with no graphical environment and with a low power CPU.

What doesn't is all the video stuff. Games, calls, movies, etc would all cease to be a function of my computer.

Any interactive website would also fail though, which is needed nowadays for adulting purposes.

Show threadTerminal TiltJan 5

@benrob0329

I relate to this so much. That pull toward tech minimalism is exactly what led me back to Debian. There's something powerful about proving that future proof doesn't have to mean brand new highend hardware.

Show threadMike Jan 5
@benrob0329 this was kinda my dream for the pine book pro that can literally run off a small solar panel
Show threadAstroJan 5
@benrob0329 this is exactly how I feel. You might like this! https://github.com/ericjenott/Evertop I'd built it if I were savvy enough. Maybe one day
Show threadBenrob0329Jan 5
@astro Given that OpenBSD and NetBSD both run on some other 80s hardware, I wonder if one of them could he coaxed to run on that for a modern software environment 🤔
Show threadBenrob0329Jan 6

@astro Ok, this sent me down a rabbit hole.

The short answer is no, no modern Unix-like will run on something quite that low power with useful results. You most modern OS is going to be FreeDOS, and good luck getting anything even as complex as Git or SSL working on something like that.

However, there might be a reasonably low power SBC that can run a BSD or Linux variant similarly, the trick for me is finding something mainstream enough to have recent OS support.

Show threadAstroJan 8

@benrob0329 I think a pi zero 2 should be able to run a pared down debian/raspberry pi os considerably well even though it's way more power hungry than an esp32.

There are some very tiny OSs for microcontrollers but like you said, not full fledged environments. A pi zero 2 is probably the best compromise.

Show threadMalinJan 6

@benrob0329 I see the same evolution of computer people through chats, and biographies.

You either stop learning and start selling NTFS, or you keep climbing, then one day bin the computer and start a tomato farm.

Show threadMark HahnJan 7

@benrob0329 I think there's a lot to like about greyscale displays! definitely doesn't have to be strictly text-mode (I fondly remember my time with greyscale X terminals - thin clients...)

I think it's more about focus and minimalism than retro.

Show threadskippyJan 20
@benrob0329 I miss my OLPC laptop.