What do we even do at this point?

[UCyborg]

Might be some word in there that anti-spam on this forum doesn't like.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

Three words?  "complaints about linux"  

I've used over two dozen "flavors" of linux and all are very short-lived.

Everybody loves to root for the underdog, but say what you want about "windoze" (the OP spelling, a spelling that represents bias by those that use it), M$ (another biased spelling) is DOMINANT and everything else is just a "hobby play toy".

[Sampei.Nihira]

@NotHereToPlayGames

Hi,

You might try installing Linux instead of W.2000 on that PC you are complaining about.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

I tried a few times, unsuccessful.  Dealing with Linux drivers is a thousand trillion times worse than DLL H3LL.

It's a HOBBYIST ENDEAVOR that I currently do not have time to allocate towards.

Perhaps in my retirement years when I have nothing better to do than eat, sleep, and poop.

[Sampei.Nihira]

I would try, as you approach retirement,MX-Linux 386 FluxBox.
If you install it, it's still better than W.2000.

FluxBox is lighter than Xfce.

But I remember long ago its limitations in customizations bothered me.
Probably today things have changed for the better (hopefully).
 

 

[Sampei.Nihira]

Those who like to use old Windows operating systems keep it up,if they are happy.

I was told that we have to jump through hoops to use the new browsers....I notice instead that users on MSFN are (really) jumping through hoops to use the browsers available for the old operating systems.

Read this:

https://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/eeepc-2024.html
 

[UCyborg]

Linux can be a valid option. You can run modern browsers out of the box and even Widevine works these days (for those that can't live without Netflix and the like). I don't have as much problem with newer Windows as number of people here have. And I'm spoiled by the smallest details, from mouse feel to having 7-Zip's right-click context menu, though sometimes I still toy with Linux or use it for specific tasks.

While I/O performance seems great on Linux, the underperforming of graphics really bugs me. I had Radeon 4890 (it was a high-end card of the time) and it sucked, proprietary fglrx was an absolute atrocity, open-source drivers were slow even for the ancient Source engine. NVIDIA is a bit better, but 2D performance still isn't quite where it should be. And I can tolerate some slowness (I use Pale Moon as main web browser), but Linux is too much for me.

In practice, Linux seems to work really well as long as you don't talk about Linux desktop specifically.

Edited September 24 by UCyborg

[NotHereToPlayGames]

4 minutes ago, UCyborg said:

While I/O performance seems great on Linux, the underperforming of graphics really bugs me.

I have recently acquired another freebie (the advantage of being the neighborhood Mr. Fix-It).

I haven't even opened it up yet to know the specs.  Toshiba Satellite L-something.  15.6" laptop.  i5, I think.  Age would suggest DDR3.

I may end up installing Linux (or Win2k) on the Acer Aspire One POS but will wait until this new freebie gets a "nosed, decked, and shaved" Win10 install.

Graphics is not a concern.  For one, I am not a "gamer".  And for two, the rest of MSFN would grow tiresome if I kept showing up to discuss "brightness" changes every other week.  

[Sampei.Nihira]

I have been retired for less than 1 year and have only one PC at home + smartphone.

When my daughter lived with us (it has been 2 years already) I could also use her modern notebook (my personal notebook had Windows XP).

Even at the university I could have PCs with Windows and Linux.

Today I need to be able to use the internet content properly.

Brightness,insufficient RAM,YT that does not work.....etc.....are “problems” that only in this “niche of the World” are elevated to the status of interesting.

Although no one,not even I,is saying that retrocomputing is not in some respects very fascinating.

 

[UCyborg]

9 hours ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

Graphics is not a concern.  For one, I am not a "gamer".

It's non-gaming stuff too, that's why I mentioned 2D specifically.

 

[legacyfan]

1 minute ago, UCyborg said:

It's non-gaming stuff too, that's why I mentioned 2D specifically.

 

i recently went with a r7 240 gpu for my dell optiplex 9020 build and it's actually done really well as a youtube streamer 

[Sampei.Nihira]

Interesting stalemate.

Those who write are urged to write less and less because what they write is not commented on and therefore seems to be of little interest to MSFN readers and members.

Those who read comment on almost nothing and thus are presumed to be uninterested in what the few MSFN members who still venture into this endeavor write.

How is it possible to solve (if there is a solution) to this stalemate?

Shall we open a poll?

A former colleague of mine who taught natural sciences dropped the bachelor's degree due to only 3 students enrolled until the major changed to natural and environmental sciences.

If those who write no longer write......then those who read can no longer do so either.

 

Edited October 2 by Sampei.Nihira

[UCyborg]

I was going off my experience with performance hiccups with certain compositors, like the default one that comes with KDE was pretty bad with NVIDIA, at least around 2020 timeframe. And animation smoothness in web browsers or rather choppiness.

At the end of the day, Windows is popular and with popularity comes that the most stuff will most often work as expected, at least it did for me so far. And with all senseless MS' decisions regarding usability, hackers are still working on reverting them, although relative to setup I'm used to, things are still becoming slightly worse over time. But overall, I don't feel the need to escape from Windows, I know how to make it work for me.

For the future, I don't really know. This hardware is too old to move forward with Windows, the older Win11 that still works doesn't gain me anything I'd need, just heavier on resources.

Current install has been fine since late 2020, only recently getting some random BSODs on transition to sleep or hibernation. No idea if it got crooked on the software side and restoring fresher backup of said installation would help or it's just aging hardware, which subtle faults theoretically could be causing crookedness one way or another.

Who knows, maybe one day I'll be getting by without a desktop, just a smartphone. When it comes to doing essentials these days, you can pretty much do everything with it.

[UCyborg]

On 10/3/2024 at 11:03 PM, UCyborg said:

aging hardware

I forgot I still haven't unplugged that broken HDD, I'll just unmount in Windows for now and see if it does anything for (invisible) BSOD. Invisible because screen goes off before it crashes. So this is one case when unchecking option to automatically reboot doesn't help to see the error.

[Sampei.Nihira]

Some characters in this forum are full of (in my opinion erroneous) preconceptions that they repeat incessantly in every one of their posts.
But their biggest mistake is not the preconception,it is the constant reiteration of it.
By doing so,their personal opinion,right or wrong,ends up becoming unbearable.

Meanwhile,I have lost the will to open (new) threads and now I am losing the will to even read other people's threads.

What is the cure for this?