sizeofcat wrote: ↑Sat Aug 03, 2024 4:36 pm
The outcome is the realization that I can do pretty much everything I do on a current machine, on a 2009 machine.
Yes, that was one outcome for me as well. If a 2007 vintage netbook with its atom processor and mechanical drive can just about marginally run an up to date Firefox, then a core duo with discrete graphics card and a few Gig of ram should be screaming.
My detailed outcomes were more to do with skills; I have spent a week plus a few days extra in groff working with 6000 words of text, a few diagrams and half a dozen tables. So I have explored the classic pre-processors such as pic, eqn, tbl and grap. It has dawned on me that I can describe quite complex diagrams in grap/pic and then run them through groff to get ps files then convert those to eps, load into something like inkscape and export in a variety of formats.
In addition I have become a lot more fluid with vi. I'm *almost* thinking in vi now, but not quite.
One text file called sp.ms that has the troff mark up for 14 pages of text with mathematical formulas, tables, diagrams and graphs.
One pdf file called t.pdf which is the result of processing the text file with a full installation of groff (GNU troff) with the additional install of the grap pre-processor.
I'm quite pleased with this and I think groff is quite a useful typesetting alternative.
Of course I wrote initial outcomes on gopherhole (in general - it was good stuff, being able to slow down a little and think about what I fire up in a browser, on the other hand trickled is very unstable at least on OpenBSD), but after few months I can add something more. First thing, emulating old computer does not give same experince as running real one, "current" CPUs on single core as still better than old CPUs even on multicore. Also big amount of swap makes challenge a little easier. Second thing is that returning to everyday setup was so smooth that I forgot that I was using something "old".
Second point brought me to idea of Beyond Old Computer Challenge and question - did OCC change something in your life? I my case I kinda returned to OCC by slowing down bandwidth again - I do believe that we have too much information in our lives and one of possibilities to limit it is to dam an information flux.
Also known as StoickiDoomer - gopher://tilde.institute:70/1/~stoickidoomer/
There is always just one more thing.
Carrying bits of the challenge with you after the challenge seems to be fairly common! And it's really a good thing. A great eye-opener in this really pretty shocking world of overperformant slop with no meaningful content.
Me personally, I've always been pretty nostalgic about things. But after this years challenge I completely snowed in on the early 2000s, the lifestyle, tech, fashion etc. and am currently pretty much living in it. And at least for me that's really exciting, and brings me a hell lot more joy than meandering around in the current day.
Everything is a smoke machine if you operate it wrong enough. Main site deadnet.se
zero cool wrote: ↑Tue Dec 31, 2024 12:28 pm
But after this years challenge I completely snowed in on the early 2000s, the lifestyle, tech, fashion etc.
Really? I didn't even notice.
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