"When my girlfriend visits me, she has to work on a mini PC while I use my laptop to finish whatever I postponed at the office. Her PC has a 1GHz VIA processor and 128 MB of RAM and runs Ubuntu. You can imagine how slowly it boots, even with Linux installed, and GNOME runs so slowly that it's quite irritating. I didn't want to reformat and install a lightweight Linux distribution like Fluxbuntu because the mini PC doesn't have a CD-ROM drive, and I already had 10GB of data that would have taken a long time to back up. Instead, I found and installed some lightweight software to improve her computing experience."
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Member since:2005-07-05
Member since:2006-10-08
Very valid argument. Why abandon something that works? Furthermore: If you take the time to create and tweak a "taylor your own" system, you learn something about it. This kind of experience can help you in other situations.
Wasting money, even in small amounts, is not neccessary a sign of wealth of intelligence. :-)
This seems to be an indoctrinated concept to increase re-buying everything after a certain amount of time. In Germany, we have the term "Wegwerfgesellschaft" (pr: vagverfgasallshuft; tr: trow away society), you don't re-use working things, you don't repair them even if it's a one minute work - no, you simply buy new suff... Your neighbor has new? You need new, too! You even need better than him! Throwing away working stuff increases the amount of electronics garbage on the dump. Flora and fauna do say "thank you", don't they?
I've still got a 300 MHz P2 with 128 MB RAM, running FreeBSD + XFCE 3, along with OpenOffice 1, XMMS, MPlayer and many "old fashioned" pieces of software. The system is able to do much more than a brand new PC from the shelf that is treated as a better typewriter! It's still in use. The 150 MHz P1 with 128 MB RAM, too, as a backup server, working fine for more than five years now. Cannot imagine, eh? =^_^=
Today, my uncle tried to "revive" a 300 MHz system, using up to date Linux software. Didn't work, of course, but he cannot afford a newer computer.
Some concepts that I know from the time when I was raised in the GDR: Don't cry for what you don't have, do the best with the things you have. Use the best tool for the job. Nothing is entirely useless. Money and working time are exchangable, but when you've got no money, just invest your time, and you'll reach an acceptable result. You have the power to do it, because you are able to learn. Idiots can buy everything from the shelf, but they cannot create something on their own. The person building something by himself is smarter than the person just buying for it. It's always easy to buy something new, but it's more responsible to keep good things intact and working, and it increases your skills.
Don't take it too seriously, but notice the truth within. :-)
Member since:2005-07-01
Mini PCs with VIA processors are not cheap. I assume it's a mini-itx system. I looked into putting one of those together in the past but it works out more expensive than a second-hand laptop.
If you're really strapped for cash, there's no computer cheaper than an unwanted desktop PC. Today I'd just say "get an eeepc". But seeing as you've now got this machine, you may as well use it.
Member since:2006-05-18
I think the guy who wrote the piece lives in Romania where a lot of people, through no fault of their own, are pretty strapped for cash.
Take it from someone who lives in Romania - he did have the money to buy a faster PC. What the hell do you think we do here? Feed on tree bark and work on C64s?
Edited 2008-03-15 08:30 UTC
Member since:2007-01-05
Member since:2006-12-06
I agree even my old P4 computer I put to use in a MAME cabinet but I have also seen old computers even setup at a small farm where its only task was to open barn doors.
Besides sometimes those old DOS games just seem to work better on older computers than VM's (and its more fun)
Member since:
2005-11-13
With as much time as you probably spent trying to whip that clunker into shape, you could've gotten a budget PC for next to nothing that is a lot faster than what you have. IMHO, unless you're using it as a router or server, anything with 128MB of RAM and can't be upgraded should be under consideration for retirement.