Hi, late on the thread, but... On Tue, 30 May 2023 at 19:51, Diederik de Haas <didi.deb...@cknow.org> wrote: > > [Please CC me in replies as I'm not subscribed to this list] > > I hope I'm not too late for this discussion ... > > Steve McIntyre <st...@einval.com> wrote: > > Luca Boccassi wrote: > > >On Fri, 19 May 2023 at 12:42, Steve McIntyre <st...@einval.com> wrote: > > >> I'm planning on stopping publishing installer images for i386 > > >> soon. Why? We should be strongly encouraging users to move away from > > >> If they're still running i386 *hardware*, then they should be replacing > > >> that hardware with more modern, more capable, more *efficient* stuff. > > >> > > >+1 for stopping publishing installers for i386, it has been mentioned > > >many times but it's always worth repeating: electricity costs to keep > > >running i386 hardware are already way higher than what it costs to buy > > >a cheap, low-power replacement like a raspberry pi, that also provides > > >better performance. > > > > Exactly. > > ... > > If people have strong opinions about that plan, let us know please. > > I have *strong* opinions about this. > > https://lists.debian.org/debian-kernel/2023/01/msg00372.html was a message/ > plea to not forget about supporting OLD systems. > > While it may be a no-brainer for a person with a $/€ 1000 a month residual > income to just buy new hardware whenever they feel like it, that is not the > case for everyone. > > To quote (a part) of that email: > > I happen to know of a few derivative projects that have been using > > Debian technology that have brought new life to some really aging equipment > > and some people in either Third World countries or in communities with low > > incomes and either limited or non-existent access to modern equipment. One > > such effort, the antiX distribution, has been effective in reaching poor > > communities in Brazil recently, and has long been able to reach people with > > scaled down Debian technology all over the world. > > > > I'm wondering if there is some way to provide a "hook" or a way for some of > > these ten to twenty year old systems to remain functional for those who may > > not otherwise have a way, other than to run insecure, out of date systems. > > If there is a way, even a "side project", I hope that the Debian community > > can help a few of these derivative distributions assist people worldwide to > > have access to modern technology, > > even from systems that are barely "modern" any more. > > Besides people in 'third world countries' (I actually don't like such > qualifications at all), there are also people in the '1st world' who work > their > asses off just to put food on the table, and thus also don't have the money to > buy new equipment. But if you want to interact with your own government, you > highly likely will need to have some PC (type) equipment. > It could also provide a way to learn/develop new skills. > > It's absolutely true that modern machines are more energy efficient. What is > also true is that the production of new devices has a big environmental > impact.
Well, I do consider myself someone living in a third world country, possibly already a four world by now. Some years ago I would have certainly totally concurred with your observation. Nowadays? No. amd64 systems are old enough that you can find them in old machines too. My PoV is that we reached the point at which we can safely say there are replacements. Ecologically it is better to refurbish old amd64 systems rather than trying to keep the i386 alive. My personal PoV, but... -- Lisandro Damián Nicanor Pérez Meyer https://perezmeyer.com.ar/
